The current Manchester United boss has blasted Louis van Gaal and David Moyes for a lack of progression at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
Van Gaal and Moyes endured short tenures at United with failure to make it into the top four ultimately ending their respective reigns.
While Mourinho's United only finished sixth last year, they are back at the top table of European football thanks to their Europa League win.
And he insists he's still got a rebuilding job on his hands.
He told the Sunday Times: “There was an evolution in the other clubs. There was no evolution in this club.
“In all the areas that make a team successful I think we stopped in time.
"When I say ‘the club’, I say the football team and what surrounds the football team was in trouble, big trouble. Not the club at all.
"Because the club is much more than results — it’s the fanbase.
"It’s the passion around the world, it’s the business, it’s the commercial, it’s the merchandising.
"And a club like Manchester United as a club can be one, two, three, four, five, ten years without winning.
"Manchester United will always be Manchester United and as a club will never be in trouble.
“The football team I think clearly there was an evolution in other clubs, and that was quite an empty period in this club with no evolution in areas that are important for the football team.
“And that was the first step to try to bring the football team in the right direction.”
