Jose Mourinho has earned the same number of points in his debut Manchester United season as Louis van Gaal after 34 games

MANCHESTER UNITED fans had plenty of reason to be confident going into the 2016-17 season.

After all, they finally got rid of ‘boring’ Louis van Gaal and brought in the ever-entertaining – and successful – Jose Mourinho.

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On top of that, the club firmly put their faith in their new boss, handing him £109million to conclude a deal for Juventus star Paul Pogba in the summer.

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However, things haven’t improved a bit since LVG left… really.

After 34 Premier League games, Man United have the exact same points tally in Mourinho’s debut season as in LVG’s – 65.

PA:Press Association

Back in 2014-15 at the same stage, Van Gaal had won 19 of his 34 matches in charge, drawing eight and losing seven.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has won two fewer winning just half of his games, drawing an outrageous 14... however, he overseen just three losses.

United the season are also scoring fewer - at 51 compared to 59 in 2014-15 - but have conceded fewer in return; 25 instead of 34.

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PA:Press Association

United finished LVG's first season on 70 points - with the club winning just one of their four games that season to end up fourth.

Back in the present day and United's top four hopes are no longer in their own hands sitting a point behind 'noisy neighbours' Manchester City.

Liverpool are in third and four points ahead of Mourinho and Co - but have played a game extra.

At this stage, Mourinho will almost certainly be relying on winning the Europa League as their route into Europe's elite competition.