Louis van Gaal has accused Jose Mourinho of playing more boring football than he did as manager of Manchester United.
It is an opportune time for the Dutchman to speak up after Mourinho’s United were dismantled by Pep Guardiola and Manchester City on Sunday.
Mourinho has been criticised in the aftermath for defensive tactics that allowed City to dominate the game — even if it did take two fortunate goals to secure a 2-1 win. Van Gaal claims that in two years at Old Trafford, he played football that was “quite all right” but “not appreciated in England”. He went on to suggest that “Mourinho is not being criticised while it’s a far more boring football.”
The statistics, however, and their respective records, do not back it up. Here’s a look at how Mourinho is faring as United boss in comparison to Van Gaal.
Goals
Mourinho was quick to accept last season that the 54 goals United scored in the Premier League was not enough. However, in Van Gaal’s last season — 2015-16 — he managed to set a new club record of just 49 goals in a league season.
In 103 games with Van Gaal as manager, United scored four or more in a game just four times. Mourinho has already managed it 14 times.
More than one in five games under Van Gaal ended with United not scoring at all with 23 blanks in his 103 games. Mourinho’s United have failed to score in just 13 of their 89 games. During the 2015-16 season, United managed just 27 goals at Old Trafford in the Premier League — their lowest ever total. In eight games this season, Mourinho’s United have already got 21.
Wins
Van Gaal’s win percentage at United was 52.43 percent, worse than David Moyes’ of 52.94 percent. After nearly 18 months in charge, Mourinho’s is 61.8 percent.
Van Gaal recorded 53 wins as manager of United. Mourinho, in half a season less, has already recorded 54.
In 2015-16 alone, United lost 10 league games — only the second time they had reached double figures in the Premier League era. Even after Sunday’s defeat to City, Mourinho has still only lost eight league games in charge of United.
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