The tens of thousands of Manchester United fans in China must be wondering when Jose Mourinho, the self-styled "Special One", will start working his undoubted magic on a club that is used to greatness.

The Red Devils are one of the best-supported English Premier League clubs in China. A survey a couple of years ago found the club has an estimated 100 million fans there, which is an awful lot of replica shirt sales, and explains why the club regularly sends its team over for preseason tours.

I make no apologies for again writing about a club I've followed since I was 10. No, this time the blame lies fairly and squarely with my colleague Zhao Siyuan, who knows more than any woman I know about European football.

Indeed, it was during a conversation on Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, that I was ordered - well, gently requested - to write about the ongoing rivalry between the two men, which reached fever pitch in Spain's La Liga in 2010, when Mourinho was in charge of Real Madrid and Guardiola was at Barcelona.

That rivalry has now been transferred, at great expense, to Manchester.

Mourinho's touch is sorely needed at Old Trafford because fans and players alike had become disillusioned with the tactics employed for the past two seasons under Dutch manager Louis van Gaal, whose weekly news conferences became a baleful staring match as United, unbelievably, failed to qualify for this season's lucrative UEFA Champions League.

Manchester United has been a killing field for managers - David Moyes, a quiet Scot who had worked wonders with little money at Everton, was drafted in as the handpicked replacement for Alex Ferguson, the dour Glaswegian who had piloted the club to great heights, winning 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions League titles. Moyes lasted barely a season.

Now, it's down to the mercurial Mourinho to pick up the pieces.

So far, it's not gone well. United managed to lose three games on the trot, including the local derby against City, and only scraped a nervous 3-1 win against Northampton Town in the EFL Cup. Northampton are two divisions below United.

Of course, being Mourinho, there are all sorts of excuses, the best of which is that the players have been "mentally scarred" by two seasons with Van Gaal. Yeah, right.

Meanwhile, over at Etihad Stadium, Guardiola has racked up a 100 percent record, winning over the players and generally being regarded as a runaway success.

One player, veteran Cote D'Ivoire midfielder Yaya Toure, made the mistake of crossing swords with Guardiola after the manager left him out of the Champions League squad in September, prompting criticism from Toure's agent, Dimitri Seluk.

Guardiola's reaction was swift, brutal and an object lesson on why you should never upset the person who pays your salary.

Toure was told he'd never play again for City and that he would be free to leave in the January transfer window.

Oh, and guess who United face in the next round of the EFL Cup? Yep, Guardiola and co.

There. Happy now, Siyuan?

Chris Peterson is managing editor of China Daily European Bureau.

Contact him on chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 09/30/2016 page11)