Jose Mourinho’s season continues to be weird.
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Ahead of Manchester United’s huge UEFA Champions League group stage clash with Juventus on Tuesday the Portuguese coach spoke to the media and refused to talk about individual players, with many of the questions asked about Paul Pogba.
“I don’t like this press conference,” Mourinho said. I think the press conference is going in other directions. If the press conference is going in other directions then I want to go in another direction. I don’t want to speak about Pogba, I don’t want to speak about individuals or Spanish journalists. I want to speak about one of the biggest candidates of winning the competition. That is what motivates me, that’s what brings me here. If the press conference is going in other directions, I want to go in another direction.”
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So, Mourinho took it in another direction. He instead spoke about the incident regarding Marco Ianni, Chelsea’s assistant coach who celebrated in front of Mourinho’s bench at the weekend and sparked ugly scenes in the technical area after Chelsea’s 96th minute equalizer at Stamford Bridge.
“I want to thank Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea for their honesty. But I’m not happy that it is going too far with the young boy [Chelsea coach Marco Ianni]. I don’t think he deserved more than what he got,” Mourinho said. “He apologized to me. He deserves a second chance. I don’t think he deserves to be sacked. He recognizes he was wrong. He is probably the young coach with great potential. For me it was the end of the story when he apologized to me.”
Asked about the form of his team and Anthony Martial, who scored twice in that largely encouraging 2-2 draw at Chelsea, Mourinho hardly lavished praised on the French forward.
“I think Martial is like the team,” Mourinho said. “The team is playing fine, Martial is playing fine. It’s easier for individuals to play well when the team is playing well. He has been involved when the team played well and he played well too... There were contradictory feelings after the Chelsea match. I told the players we have to keep that happiness, pride and confidence of the way we played. But on the other side, use the anger to motivate ourselves to play a big match.”
That big match sees Cristiano Ronaldo return to Old Trafford to play against his former club and his former manager and United know that their back-to-back UCL games against Juve will determine whether or not they reach the knockout round of the competition.
If they reach the latter stages of the Champions League and finish in the top four of the Premier League this season, then talk of Mourinho losing his job will surely fade away. At least for a few months. He will have to get a positive result against Juve without Alexis Sanchez who is injured, while Mourinho also confirmed Antonio Valencia is still missing.
“They have a lot to offer and an extra year with the same coach and structure. They have won seven titles on the trot and a really special player who makes a real difference. They are more than a contender for the Champions League,” Mourinho said.
When it came to talk about his future at United, which was in jeopardy two weeks ago according to a report, Mourinho was adamant he will remain at Old Trafford, despite suggestions he could head back to Real Madrid for a second spell.
“No. My future is here – I have a contract and until the final of my contract I only think about Manchester United. I am happy to stay here longer than that,” Mourinho said.