MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Jose admits United might not catch City NEXT season…
IF TRADITION tells us that a club like Manchester United must try to win at least one trophy a season, then the FA Cup serves as a necessity as much as an opportunity for Jose Mourinho this evening.
In the wake of Manchester City’s cakewalk through the Premier League, Mourinho would appear to think it may be equally important next year, too.
Modern managers don’t like to make too much fuss about the FA Cup. Not until they win it, anyway. It’s as if admitting some kind of lust for the famous old trophy somehow hints at an inability to aim for anything a little bigger.
That is all nonsense and yesterday at United’s Chelsea Bridge hotel, Mourinho spelled out what sounded very much like a stark truth. If City perform next season like they have this then everybody else in the Premier League will be playing for second place.
‘This season, in this Premier League, many clubs had positive seasons, like us, like Tottenham, like Liverpool,’ said Mourinho.
‘But it was impossible because City were really good and consistent and will reach a number of points that makes it impossible.
‘If they do the same number of points (next season), if they get into the 90 something points, it will be almost impossible again.’
Had those words been spoken by another United manager — David Moyes, for example — there would have been uproar from the rank and file. Maybe there will be this time too.
Mourinho has spent money at United and will spend more this summer. Surely he must have ambitions of chasing City down next season? If he doesn’t then what is the point of it all?
Mourinho won the title with 95 points while at Chelsea in 2005 and said: ‘We gave no chance to the opponents, which is what Manchester City did this time.
‘Even when they were almost losing points they managed to win against Bournemouth in minute 145 and some other matches where they won in 90-something minutes. They were really, really strong. There is no question about who deserves to be champions.’
If Mourinho’s aim is to dampen expectations then he may as well forget it. At United, a title challenge is expected every time the opening ball is kicked.
More likely, he is trying to accentuate the positives of how United have played this time round. A win against Tottenham at Wembley today would help him with that aim. If he doesn’t get it then his year will be characterised by a failure to get enough out of two marquee signings as much as anything else.
Mourinho was quizzed on Paul Pogba yesterday and repeated his view that he requires more consistency from the midfielder. Arguably more disappointing has been the form of Mourinho’s big January signing, Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean will play today but probably doesn’t deserve to, given the form of players like Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard.
‘I am not going to say that he frustrates me or not,’ said Mourinho. ‘But I am not a big fan of the January market. It was just an opportunity that we didn’t want to lose. The deal was to be done then or never.
‘I was not expecting Alexis to arrive and to immediately become the player we know he can be. I know that next season he will be more Alexis than he is now.’
Spurs and their manager Mauricio Pochettino will be under some pressure themselves today as they seek their first trophy for a decade.
This week Pochettino said that the FA Cup would be welcome but that the Premier League and Champions League remain his real objectives.
Yesterday it was interesting to hear Mourinho be so much more circumspect.