MOURINHO’S MISSION
GAMES AGAINST Chelsea will always be special for Jose Mourinho, for so long the darling of Stamford Bridge.
The latest trip to his former club tomorrow might just carry even more significance.
There are other factors in play for the Manchester United manager aside from his team’s need for three points to keep pace with rampant leaders Manchester City in the Premier League.
There’s the desire for redemption after United’s humiliating 4-0 loss at Chelsea around this time last year. There’s the gradual souring of his relationship with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.
Also, what better way to silence growing criticism of him and his team’s style of play than for an increasingly irritable Mourinho to finally lead United to an away win against a big rival?
“From the emotional point of view, it’s just one more game,” Mourinho has said in the build-up.
Few will take those comments seriously.
Going into a match that has proved to be one of the most contentious and incident-filled in English football in recent years, the focus should really be on Chelsea and Conte.
The 3-0 loss to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday was verging on the embarrassing because of the comical nature of Chelsea’s defending. And with the team having already lost three times in 10 games of its Premier League title defence, questions are being asked about Chelsea’s squad depth and ability to challenge on both domestic and European fronts this season.
“In this season, we are struggling,” Conte said yesterday. “We are struggling a lot. We are facing a lot of important problems.”
It must hurt Mourinho that his biggest loss as United manager came at the hands of Chelsea and at a stadium where he was once treated like a king during two trophy-laden
spells as manager (2004-07 and 2013-15). It is the only time Mourinho’s United have been beaten by more than two goals in his 18month reign.
FAILED TO WIN
Including that 4-0 loss in October 2016, United have played six away league games against England’s so-called ‘Big Six’ under Mourinho and failed to win any of them, only scoring one goal in the process. Critics say a team as expensively assembled as United’s should be doing more and playing more attractively.
Mourinho continues to defend his style and tactics in the big games, saying his team
deserved credit for beating Tottenham 1-0 last weekend in a period when Tottenham have beaten Liverpool 4-1 and Real Madrid 3-1. After the win against Tottenham, Mourinho gave a ‘shush’ gesture to the TV cameras – a perceived retort to his critics.
In past years, picking up a point at Stamford Bridge would be viewed as creditable but Man City’s fast start to this season is making people re-evaluate what a good result is.
Fourth-place Chelsea start the game nine points behind City, and second-place United are five points off the unbeaten and freescoring leaders. City host Arsenal hours before the Chelsea-United match starts.