Jose: Snipers don’t take pop at our rivals
FED-UP Jose Mourinho last night insisted his Manchester United side don’t get the same credit as some of their Premier League rivals.
The Special One has come under fire for United’s style of play in recent games, particularly in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool and narrow wins over Benfica and Spurs.
He now faces a return to old club Chelsea on Sunday, where substance could again supersede style.
But Mourinho insists the stick United have taken is harsh and claims other sides don’t come under the same level of scrutiny.
Despite initially claiming he didn’t want to comment, the Old Trafford boss couldn’t resist having a pop at some of United’s detractors.
The Portuguese said: “Similar performances for some clubs are magic, are examples of brilliant tactics and amazing attitude of the players. For other teams the same kind of performance becomes conservative, negative, so many adjectives.
“Tottenham beat Liverpool 4-1, Tottenham beat Real Madrid 3-1, Tottenham didn’t score against Manchester United. At least a little bit of credit my players deserve.”
Mourinho was prompted to hold his press conference a day earlier than normal because he is scheduled to face accusations of tax fraud in Spain today.
The Spanish authorities opened a case against the 54-year-old in June for alleged tax evasion during his spell as Real Madrid boss. But his representatives insisted Mourinho had fulfilled all his tax obligations.
The United boss insisted it would not be a disruption ahead of one of the biggest games of the season, saying: “It’s just a change of normal training time because I can’t be here in the morning.”
Mourinho has a mixed record against his old club at Stamford Bridge, winning there with Inter Milan but losing with United in the league and cup last season.
He said: “I have to admit it’s a little bit different but in the end I want to win like I did with Inter. Chelsea want to win like they did last season and it’s just one more day.
“In a couple of years it will be even more natural and in four or five years probably no one will remember that I was Chelsea manager and it becomes absolutely normal.
“It isn’t a big thing. It’s normal, it’s football.”