Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho lets the mask slip after insipid Europa League defeat by Feyenoord

Few could blame United’s players for not fancying the trip to a raucous De Kuip after their manager’s cutting dissection of the Europa League’s very point of existence

Samuel Stevens
Rotterdam
Friday 16 September 2016 22:28 BST
Comments
Jose Mourinho's men looked out of sorts in Rotterdam
Jose Mourinho's men looked out of sorts in Rotterdam

Manchester United had just surrendered to an insipid defeat at Feyenoord but Jose Mourinho, the man tasked with nudging them back to life, strolled into the Rotterdam press room like a man without a care in the world.

The Portuguese has become an expert at managing the English media across his on-off decade long affair with the Premier League but the snarling alter-ego we are all familiar with from his closing months at Chelsea last term is always liable to rear its ugly head.

Mourinho had just been pressed hard on the form of Paul Pogba, a player he trusts so much that he lumped £89m on him last month, after previously stating he had no interest in discussing individual performances.

To say the former Internazionale and Real Madrid manager has led a charm offensive at Old Trafford would perhaps be bending the confines of reality somewhat but he has nonetheless made a concerted effort to detract from his self-explosive tendencies.

Two consecutive defeats, one of which was to Pep Guardiola’s rejuvenated Manchester City side, would be enough to irk any United manager of previous eras but watching his old rival supplant him as the darling of English football must surely be starting to grate.

It was put to him that, although these are early days in the title race, it isn’t looking good for his pre-season title favourites following two dispiriting defeats in the space of five days. For a split second the mask slipped, the teeth began to show.

“You are right,” he bit back in an instant. “It is early days. I prefer to be four points in front than four behind. That is obvious.”

As media run-ins go it was hardly Frost/Nixon, in fact many missed it altogether, but it hinted at Mourinho’s dislike with what he had just witnessed in the Netherlands.

Few could blame United’s players for not fancying the trip to a raucous De Kuip after their manager’s cutting dissection of the Europa League’s very point of existence just 24 hours previously.

The 53-year-old bemoaned the fact that his new club had been dumped into European football’s second tier. For a man who has lifted the Champions League on two occasions and is desperate to become the first manager to do so with three different clubs, United’s qualification for the Europa League is likely to feel like a punishment for a crime he didn’t commit.

The press back have had to tread carefully with Mourinho after such losses in the past. The 53-year-old has been known to reach for the victim card, piling the blame for his latest setback on referees or, in this case, the scheduling issues of playing on Thursdays.

In an effort to pre-empt that accusation this time around, he added: “I know we play at midday on Sunday and it is now 9pm on Thursday. But let’s not make an excuse for Sunday.”

The damage had been done on Wednesday night, however, and the performance in Rotterdam matched the uninterested tone set by the manager. If United lose at Vicarage Road this weekend, the mask could slip a little further. Five games into his new dawn, Mourinho is already reverting to type.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in