Jose building for future but aiming to win
FOR someone who has spent two-and-a-half years living in a hotel, houses would not seem Jose Mourinho’s specialist subject.
But the Manchester United boss turned to a housing analogy when asked whether his side, languishing in sixth place, would be in the title mix had he been able to spend at the same level as Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp in the summer.
Klopp presided over a £177million spend while Mourinho was restricted to a £72.5m outlay on new players.
Mourinho wanted to spend much more and hinted at problems behind the scenes when he said: “It’s not just about the money they spent in the summer. It’s many things. It’s more than that.
“A football team is a little bit like a house.
“A house is not just about buying new furniture – you have to do work in the house and when the house is ready then you buy the furniture.
“You spend money on the best-possible furniture and then you’re ready to live in an amazing house.”
With nine of his players injured and several facing the prospect of having to play through the pain barrier tomorrow, Mourinho’s United travel to Liverpool more in hope than expectation – despite the manager’s claim they can pull off a shock win.
“I’m going to try,” he said. “I want to play a team that is capable of being with me on that desire, on that ambition, on that confidence.
“We know we’re going to play the leaders, a team on a high, but we have our qualities and we have our potential.
“Even with the problems and doubts in terms of team choice, tactics, approach, philosophy – we have doubts about everything because we don’t know which players are available – we’re going to arrive with the players we have available and have a team capable of going there and fighting for the victory.”
And Mourinho has not lost at Liverpool since the 2007 Champions League semi-final second leg, when he was with Chelsea.