Red Monday made
JOSE MOURINHO was the selfproclaimed Special One when he arrived in England in 2004, the new kid on the managerial block who broke up the stranglehold that senior statesmen Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger had on the Premier League.
Now, following his nightmare at Chelsea last season and a less than convincing start to his tenure as Manchester United boss, his stock has fallen in the eyes of many, the magic touch may have gone, and he is looking over his shoulder at younger guns such as Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and, of course, his old foe Pep Guardiola.
Mourinho has already lost his first Manchester derby and cannot afford another setback tonight to United’s other great rival Liverpool, whose win at Stamford Bridge a year ago hastened his departure from Chelsea. But former United defender Gary Pallister feels ‘Red Monday’ is the sort of challenge the Portuguese man o’ war thrives on.
There is no better platform for him to restate his credentials than in front of a hostile 55,000 sell-out crowd at the redeveloped Anfield with an estimated worldwide TV audience of 700million.
“You’ve seen how Jose reacts to people trying to get the better of him for years,” said Pallister. “There was the Guardiola situation over in Spain. He relishes these challenges.
“The games against Liverpool are always important. It means so much to the United fans, up against a club with the success Liverpool have had.
“The younger managers are great for the Premier League. The energy that Klopp’s got, the tactical acumen of Pochettino at Spurs, Guardiola at City and, of course, he’ll be going up against the old guard as well with Wenger.
“Jose’s probably in that senior part of it now as well.
“All the top clubs have looked at themselves and improved after last year. They would have felt a bit embarrassed by how things went for them and they’ve tried to put things right. They’ve all spent money and are looking a lot better.
“We all want to see the rivalries, creating big teams and the exciting football. That was something which was missing last season.”
Pallister admitted: “We can’t get away from the fact that the last three years haven’t really been what United fans have wanted. The style of football we’ve played hasn’t been what you’d