How are United’s new signings affecting their bookmaker odds?

Jose Mourinho: Title odds have taken a tumble

Jose Mourinho: Looking forward to taking United to Anfield

It has been a hectic few seasons at Manchester United, as the once seemingly unbeatable team have dramatically declined in form ever since the legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson left the club after the 2012/13 season, the last one in which United truly shined.

It’s been a struggle for the Red Devils ever since as one coach after another failed to reproduce the results of their predecessor and the team have barely even been able to win a place in any of the European competitions.

The 2016 summer transfer window was a time when the club owners finally decided this had to change, and splashed hundreds of millions bringing in the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and perhaps most importantly Jose Mourinho to manage the team.

Under management of the Special One, it was expected that United would go right back into the race for the title, but the first few weeks of Mourinho’s leadership at the Old Trafford have been less than spectacular, as he managed to drop six points in the five opening rounds of EPL, losing to city rivals Manchester City and Watford and also dropped Europa League points to Feynoord in their opening CL fixture.

The season is still very young, but media and fans have already started to question Jose Mourinho, perhaps too fast and unjustly. The following weeks are likely to tell us if things will turn around for United soon or if they are set for another failure in the 2016/17 season.

 

The Reinforcements

Paul Pogba: Struggled to impose himself against Watford

It all started on May 27 2016, as Louis van Gaal, the previous Manchester United manager got the sack following a fairly unsuccessful season by United standards and Jose Mourinho, believed by many to be the greatest football manager of the modern era, was appointed as the new head of the managerial staff at the Old Trafford.

His signing brought hope for United fans across the planet that their club could soon raise from the ashes as he promised great player signings and vision for the following season. The player signings started soon, as one by one Mkhitaryan, Ibrahinovic and Pogba made their way to Manchester to significantly reinforce the squad. Add to this the emerging young talent of Marcus Rashford, United were looking like a completely new team, poised for grand things in the upcoming Premier League season.

The new Red Devils opened strong, with three victories against Bournemouth, Southampton and Hull, but never looked as dangerous on the pitch as one would expect from a team with such a strong forward line. The three consecutive defeats to Manchester City, Feynoord and Watford showed that United’s strategy was flawed in some way and put Jose Mourinho under significant pressure.

 

Long odds to win it all

When the season was about to start, United were the second top favorite to win the Premier League, at approximately 6.00 odds. Those odds have dropped all the way down to 13.25 now, with Chelsea taking over the place of second favorite, behind the highly-favorited Manchester City, at 1.65.

The bookmakers took advantage of all the huge signings to price United as one of the prime favorites to win it all at the start of the season, but the experienced punters warned against making such bets, as a team with so many brand new stars and a new coach was never likely to shine straight away.

The odds have now diminished as United look less and less likely to win their 21st Premier League title this season. On the other front, they have also managed to drop Europa League points in their debut, but are still priced as the odds favorite to win the competition at 7.00.

If we were to look at the history of the competition and especially recent years, it becomes quite clear that United are not very likely to win Europa League at all, as we can expect them to take the competition less than seriously, and focus most of their energy on the Premier League season and winning a place in the next year’s Champions League.