Jose Mourinho endured a “tough job” at Manchester United, admits Benni McCarthy, but the Portuguese has not “become a bad coach overnight” and is expected to return to management shortly.
After landing three trophies in his debut campaign at Old Trafford, success dried up for a proven winner and he was eventually relieved of his duties in December 2018.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has stepped in and helped to deliver the results expected of his predecessor, with the former Real Madrid and Inter boss now waiting on offers to entice him back to the dugout.
McCarthy, who tasted Champions League success under Mourinho at Porto, believes the 56-year-old will soon be back in work as he is too good to be out of a high-profile post for long.
“Manchester United was a tough job for him, and also the players didn’t really help his situation,” the ex-South Africa international told talkSPORT.
“You look at the Man United side now and the Man United side that was under Jose Mourinho, it’s like chalk and cheese, it’s like two completely different sides!
“Credit to Ole for coming in and changing things and getting the love out of the players again, because they have marvellous players and under Mourinho it just didn’t seem to work.
“But he will bounce back.
“He is one of the strong characters and strong personalities in football, and what happened at Man United was bit of a stain on his resume, so I think he’ll want to rectify that.
“He’ll be back. You don’t become a bad coach or a not-so-world-class coach overnight.”
Mourinho has been linked with various posts since being ushered through the exits by United.
A return to his native Portugal has been ruled out, with there considered to be bigger challenges for him to take on at this point.
Second stints at Inter and Madrid have been mooted, with those in charge at San Siro and the Santiago Bernabeu still holding him in high regard.
For now, though, Mourinho is focusing on punditry work and taking a break from the stresses and pressures of top level coaching.