Jose can win battles but not the war without trust in Special Juan
THE ear-cupping, the pulling of a face he knew would lead the news, the admittedly amusing gag about getting the FA to translate Italian insults, it was always going to be about Jose Mourinho. Again.
Not that we are complaining too much. Boorish or not, he is box office.
His Wednesday started with the FA renewing their disciplinary pursuit of him for mouthing abuse into a TV camera a month ago and ended with Mourinho goading the Turin locals.
You can safely say it was peak Jose.
Sandwiched in between was a victory every bit as crucial as the win that preceded the petulant Portuguese uttering what the FA still consider misconduct.
Both those triumphs were unlikely comebacks, recovering to win from two goals down against Newcastle United and from one down against Juventus.
Both were prompted by Juan Mata. More specifically, Juan Mata free-kicks. Both times, he was on the field as a substitute.
He is as underrated a dead-ball specialist as he is a player.
Of those at Manchester United who would be perfectly at home in the Manchester City style, Mata would top the list.
Small, but every inch a Pep Guardiola footballer.
Perhaps now, he can finally become every inch a Mourinho footballer.
That has not been the case since the pair first worked together at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho returned in the summer of 2013 and sold Mata to United in January, 2014.
When the two were reunited at Old Trafford, Mourinho brought Mata on as a substitute an hour into the 2016 Community Shield – and hooked him 25 minutes later.
Since then, the dynamic between the two appears to have been professional and Mata has played his part in Mourinho’s fortunes over the past two-and-a-quarter seasons.
Mourinho has more faith in him than he had at Chelsea, but it is not complete faith.
That is probably why Mata’s contract expires next summer.
Neither party is convinced they are really good for each other. Mata has made 47 Premier League starts under Mourinho at United and has been substituted in 38 of those games. He has appeared as a substitute 14 times.
He has 10 Premier League goals in that spell and nine assists. Not phenomenal numbers, but not bad. Mata brings a certain something to the team. He brings a sense of adventure and can bring out the adventurous in the attacking talent Mourinho has at his disposal. Perhaps that is why Mourinho (below) does not fully trust him, perhaps that is why he might not start at the Etihad on Sunday.
But using Mata or otherwise is about much more than the individual.
It is about a mindset. United will have been buoyed by recent results, but the fact is they were slightly fortunate in Italy, should have been buried by Bournemouth inside half an hour and were OK against Everton after being outclassed by Juventus at Old Trafford.
They are unbeaten in seven matches, but are hardly cutting a swathe through the opposition. You can say that it has never been Mourinho’s way, even though his La Liga-winning Real Madrid of 2011/12 scored 121 goals in reaching 100 points.
It has certainly not been his way at United. Since he joined in time for the 2016/17 season, United have not scored five goals in a single game in any competition.
In that time, Guardiola’s City have scored five or more on SIXTEEN occasions.
Mourinho might well find a way to win the battle at the Etihad on Sunday.
But until he starts fully trusting the likes of Mata, he will not win the war.
SERIOUSLY, Spurs have released an 84-second video proudly entitled The Golden Cockerel is Home.
It shows the said Golden Cockerel being put into position high up in the new stadium.
Shame she’s going to be a lonely, old bird for a good while.
Until you can tell everyone the date of the first match, it might be best for
Tottenham to drop the social media teasers.
After all, this was the club that put up posters in the summer, saying the new stadium would be the only place to watch Champions League football in
London.
And now there’s more chance of the Golden Cockerel taking flight than that happening.