Aided by N’Golo Kanté’s return, the Spaniard stood out with patience and craft as José Mourinho was unable to change the course of a game United lost 1-0And then there was one. With just over an hour gone at Stamford Bridge and Manchester United trailing 1-0 thanks to Álvaro Morata’s sublime second-half header, José Mourinho leapt up out of his seat for perhaps the 30th time, quilted grey anorak billowing behind him, and waved his arms in a gesture of trapped rage.Mourinho’s exasperation was directed at Marouane Fellaini, who was standing too deep inside his own half to get a flick on to a David de Gea clearance. Fellaini rumbled a little mournfully into position. Two minutes later he was...
You might not know it listening to José Mourinho but United are having a great season while Antonio Conte does not even seem to know his best teamTo correct a misleading impression that has been slowly building up over the last few weeks, largely because a certain resident of the Lowry hotel has been busy expressing dissatisfaction at every available opportunity, Manchester United are having a really good season.They are practically through to the knockout stages of the Champions League already, having won four games out of four. They are second in the Premier League and are unbeaten at Old Trafford, where Burton Albion remain the only team to have scored a goal against them all season. They have the...
In Spain the Portuguese’s Real Madrid twice outscored his rival’s Barcelona but the Manchester United manager’s big-match caution comes at a price while City are dazzlingIt can feel like a trick of the imagination sometimes to remember there was once a time when José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were comrades. Not friends, perhaps, but certainly allies and close enough that Guardiola saved his future bete noire from a tight spot back in the days before Mourinho, as Real Madrid manager, started referring to Barcelona only as ellos (them).It’s a great story given what we know now. Barcelona were playing Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés and at full-time Luis Fernández, the home team’s manager, appeared ready to throttle the newly appointed...
Manchester United manager’s late show mindset, relying on exploiting errors, reaped rewards against Tottenham but he risks denting fortune-teller reputation‘Sometimes, it was as though he could see the future,” the former goalkeeper Vítor Baía said of José Mourinho, who coached him at Porto. “I remember a specific incident against Benfica, when throughout the week he prepared us for what we should do after we scored a goal … He told us that [the Benfica coach José Antonio] Camacho would make a specific substitution and change his tactics, which was what happened. So we already knew what to do when he did it; we were completely prepared for it. For the same match, we also prepared to play with 10 players...
There is an admirable side to the Manchester United manager’s uncompromising approach as he ignored criticism and set up his team to wear down TottenhamAnd then, of course, the sun also rises. On a boisterous, slightly wild day at Old Trafford, Manchester United produced a performance and a result that embodied the other side, the best side of this defensively voracious José Mourinho team. Related: Manchester United’s Anthony Martial rises to occasion to sink Spurs Related: José Mourinho tells critics to ‘calm down’ after Manchester United beat Spurs Continue reading...