UNITED Mourinho’s turning point could be worth the wait
SIR Alex Ferguson said turning points could arrive as early as September or as late as April in a season. Nearly seven months into his maiden campaign with United Jose Mourinho is yet to have met his.
Ferguson encountered turning points positive (Steve Bruce’s header against Sheffield Wednesday in ‘93) and negative (Marc Overmars outsprinting Gary Neville in ‘98), as well as false dawns. Six days after the apparently seismic defeat of Arsenal’s ‘invincibles’ in 2004, United lost at Portsmouth.
Positive or negative, Mourinho could experience a watershed moment against Bournemouth this lunchtime. Victory will ensure United permanently ascend from sixth, where they have been marooned since November 6.
Liverpool’s teatime rendezvous with Arsenal today is another fixture advantage afforded United and it is essential they finally seize the opportunity after failing with that demoralising draw with Hull on February 1.
However insignificant elevating to fifth might appear, it could harden the winning mentality Mourinho questioned last month.
United are not assured of Champions League qualification and they can, for just two-and-a-half hours, nestle back into the top four by beating Bournemouth. They last sat in that elite faction on September 17.
Arsenal’s defeats in early February, Liverpool’s miserable months, Spurs’ salvaged draw at City and timid showing at Anfield have beckoned United up the ladder. Having seen Stoke, Burnley, Arsenal, West Ham and Hull escape with a point, United supporters are reluctant to view Bournemouth’s visit as a gimme in spite of their defensive record.
Only Swansea have conceded more Premier League goals than Eddie Howe’s side and Bournemouth have not won a game this calendar year. They have shipped 23 goals in those eight matches.
United now have to back up collecting the club’s 44th major honour. They did so three days after lifting the League Cup in 2009, narrowly edging Newcastle to tighten one hand on the Premier League trophy and remain seven points ahead of Liverpool. Ben Foster discovered he lacked the United mentality in the aftermath.
“There was no celebration,” he said. “There was nothing. We were straight on the train home, then in for training the next day.
“There was a Champions League fixture coming up, the Carling Cup was over already. Everyone automatically moved on to the next game right away. I was thinking: ‘Jeez, we’ve won a cup, we should be celebrating,’ but I was probably alone in thinking that.”
United overcame two mental blocks during their defiant December, the Crystal Palace win compelling Mourinho to join the onpitch huddle and cuddle his players.
It felt like a turning point yet they ended the year where they have spent the first two months of 2017.
That could be about to change.