José Mourinho is having to tackle his biggest challenge as a manager | Daniel Taylor

Dec 16, 2017

Manchester United are second in the table, with more goals than many acclaimed champions down the years. But they are suffering in comparison with their rampant neighbours City

While all the adventures seem to be happening on the other side of town right now, perhaps a little context is needed and it is worth pointing out that Manchester United have actually accumulated more points at this stage of the season than in six of the 13 championship-winning years when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge and the Premier League title used to find its way back to Old Trafford like a homing pigeon.

José Mourinho’s team are six points better off, at the 17-game mark, than the treble-winning side of 1998-99 that will always be held up as Ferguson’s greatest work. The current side have outscored Arsenal’s Invincibles from the corresponding stage of the 2003-04 season and achieved the unique feat of being widely derided for anaemic football while, in reality, scoring more goals than the 1995-96 Newcastle side that was managed by Kevin Keegan and had the nickname of “the Entertainers”.

Tags: Football José Mourinho Manchester City Manchester United Sport