Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Jose believes he can catch Pep.. but he’ll have to beat another old enemy to do so
JOSE MOURINHO has landed eight titles in four countries and is still the Premier League’s greatest winner. But he knows he cannot afford to trail old rival Pep Guardiola by more than 10 points when the Manchester derby comes round next week.
The next two games are massive for Mourinho if he is to have any chance of catching Manchester City.
Lose at the Emirates, where Arsenal have won their last 12 in a row in the league, and United will probably be 11 points adrift when the neighbours come to Old Trafford. Last week I said we should hand the title to City now because they won’t be caught – but Mourinho won’t see it that way. Where Guardiola is sweeping towards the title playing fantasy football, the Reds boss will be plotting a course to the top – where he can chip away at City’s lead, how he can make them nervous, where he can score points and strike fear into them.
But now he has Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic back, Mourinho can’t go to Arsenal and grind out a goalless draw as he did at Liverpool.
If he wants to catch City, he must today put away Arsene Wenger – another old adversary – and that’s easier said than done.
Arsenal aren’t going to win the title but, as Tottenham found out the other week, they don’t roll over at home this season.
It’s a major test of Mourinho’s management and his mindset.
If City were going to the Emirates now, I would back them to take all three points because they have cleared every hurdle with flying colours this season.
I’m less sure about United doing the same – but if anybody can reel in Guardiola, it’s Mourinho.
When he won the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan, Jose proved he was a master of getting more from his team than the sum of its parts. And even in a season when City look unstoppable, he will believe less is more.
Can the archplotter catch the artist who paints masterpieces?
Where Pep went out and bought three full-backs and a goalkeeper for £175 million last summer, Jose strengthened the spine of his team by signing Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof.
Where United once ruled the stopwatch with Fergie time, City have won six extra points in Sterling time this season – Raheem’s late, late winners against Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Southampton,
Where Jose can fall back on his experience of confounding the odds at Porto and Inter, Pep has never coached at a club where resources were finite. Barcelona, Bayern and City are not exactly the soup kitchens of European football.
Whose team would I rather watch? Right now, Pep’s is a joy to behold. City have been breathtaking, and I think they are going to win the title in the perfect manner.
But I wouldn’t accuse United of being boring – the 4-2 win at Watford in midweek was the eighth time they have scored four this season.
Guardiola is a great coach – maybe even a genius – but is he a great manager who could do what Brian Clough achieved at Nottingham Forest, or win the title at Leicester like Claudio Ranieri? Or even winning the Champions League with Porto and Inter, like Mourinho?
I doubt if we will ever find out because he will only work at the very top clubs where resources are not an issue.
But one thing you can say for sure is Pep has fostered an incredible spirit at the Etihad. The way his players celebrated Sterling’s 96th-minute winner against Southampton, with crocked Benjamin Mendy hobbling down the touchline to join in, was amazing.
Mourinho has won 20 major trophies as a manager where Guardiola has 12, and between them they will have added to that total of 32 by the time this season is out.
But Jose knows the derby will have less meaning, in the context of the title race, unless he takes care of business at Arsenal.
The way City’s stars celebrated Sterling’s winner was amazing