Jose Mourinho has granted a lengthy interview to France Football, one of several the Manchester United manager has conducted with media from around the world over the past few weeks.
As Mourinho often has since taking over at Manchester United, he first went about explaining how difficult his task at the club is. The Portuguese manager believes it’s far harder for him than it was for Sir Alex Ferguson because football has changed and other English clubs are strong enough to resist transfer approaches.
On top of that, Mourinho has a pressure to conform to a certain style, something he believes his Manchester United team have been doing: “First it was important to get the supporters in touch with the team, which was not the case in the last two years. They were not happy with the way the team played, the approach, the philosophy of play, and they left the stadium ten minutes before the end.
“They had to come back in our direction. It was complicated because we had to match the style of the team with the results. And even when we did our series of four draws at home, that was the case. Against Burnley (0-0), we beat the historical record of shots during a Premier League match (37). It means that we are restoring the offensive style of Manchester United. The one that the fans want to see. However, it was not necessarily what was expected of me, because my teams are said to be rather pragmatic, realistic.”
Mourinho has sent to some snipes to Chelsea over their playing style under Antonio Conte, and again pressed home that he’s going about things the right way at Manchester United whilst other teams are less attacking: “Right now, I see a lot of defensive teams, but they win matches without being boring. But that’s not the problem. What I’m trying to tell you is that when I came to Manchester United, I knew I had to go in a certain direction, and that’s what I did.“To be offensive, to be dominant, to have possession, opportunities, not to be afraid to take goals, to intensify, not to play with five defenders, and two midfielders… At least try, It’s sometimes difficult. In short, to play positive.”
Mourinho’s attempts to make Manchester United more attacking hasn’t necessarily resulted in a glut of goals. Having scored 42 in the league so far this season, Manchester United are equal with Bournemouth, and behind six other clubs. There’s still a long way for the manager to go.
