JOSE DEMANDS A RESCUE ACT
Everybody has a role to play to turn things round – the kit man, the nutritionist, me. . .
AT The beginning of a week that could decide his fate as Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho gave a worrying insight into the mindset of the men he is relying on to save him.
Asked if his players care about the crisis engulfing Old Trafford, the embattled United boss revealed yesterday: ‘I think some care more than others.’
It was an alarming admission from a manager who has been responsible for picking more than his fair share of fights with this United squad.
Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Alexis Sanchez, eric Bailly, Marcus Rashford, Antonio Valencia, the list goes on.
Mourinho knows what it is like to lose a dressing room. It did for him at Real Madrid and in his second spell at Chelsea.
Now he must somehow get his players back onside and galvanise them into a winning team again, starting with tonight’s Champions League clash with Valencia at Old Trafford.
he insisted they are ‘ honest’ and giving their best, even though Saturday’s abject capitulation at West ham suggested otherwise.
‘I see different reactions but sometimes what you see is not really what is inside,’ said Mourinho in response to questions about the reaction of his players after the 3-1 defeat. If he can’t read them by now, who can?
‘I see sad people and I see people that didn’t look like they lost a game. But sometimes what you see is not what you get. You can be laughing and be the saddest person in the world, and you can be with a very sad face and you can be a fantastic actor and inside you are very happy.
‘I am still the kid that I was 20 years ago and I am still naive, but I still don’t believe that a player is not honest. They do it, they don’t do it. They perform, they don’t perform, that’s a different story. But until somebody that was a big professional player tells me, “I was a dishonest player”, I will always believe that the players are honest and the players want to give their best.’
When it was put to Mourinho that his players produced fewer sprints (59) than any other Premier League team at the weekend, and almost a hundred less than Liverpool, he replied: ‘The stats are the stats, but another thing is the man himself.
‘ It’s a collective thing. The reason why we don’t win is responsibility of everybody. The performance on the pitch is the consequence of many factors.
‘ everybody in the club has a role to play — the kit man, the nutritionist, I have. What I can do to improve things I do, and I will improve the things that depend on me and my work.
‘ Champions League week is always a good week even if you expect a difficult match. It’s a big week. everybody wants to play Champions League and not everybody can do it.’
The 55-year-old insisted that he doesn’t believe his job is in jeopardy, but refused to say if he has spoken to his boss, United executive vice-chairman ed Woodward, about the slump in form.
‘That’s a private matter,’ he said. ‘ I’m not asking who you spoke to yesterday or this morning, or your last phone call. That’s a private matter and I’m not going to answer to you.’
Woodward knew United were getting a confrontational character when he appointed Mourinho in 2016, and that has certainly proved to be the case. It would seem that Pogba, Martial, Bailly and Shaw turned against him some time ago. What may concern the United hierarchy is that Mourinho now appears to have fallen out with Sanchez, Rashford and Valencia.
Those still loyal to the manager are understood to be a dwindling group that includes Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young. Matic witnessed Mourinho’s demise at Chelsea three years ago, although he was reluctant to discuss it yesterday.
The Serbia midfielder instead tried to present a united front by insisting that the players are behind the Portuguese. ‘The manager is trying to turn this around,’ said Matic. ‘he is trying to make the team stronger and ready for the next challenge. I can say that in the club everyone is giving his best to do better for the team.
‘We didn’t play well on Saturday but we gave our best in that moment.
‘For me, I played one of the worst games since I signed for Man United. I look in the mirror and I want to see where I made mistakes and where I can do better. For sure, everyone does the same.’
The real proof, as ever, will be on the pitch at Old Trafford this evening. Mourinho needs his players to deliver.