Manchester United: Jose Mourinho chips away at Martial, Chelsea and Van Gaal
Who more than Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho sets the news agenda? The Times leads with Mourinho’s words on Anthony Martial. “You have one opportunity, you have two, you have three,” said the Portuguese to media. “If you don’t bite then somebody comes and takes the bait.”
The Times says, “how Martial reacts to the coded message from Mourinho will define the next stage of his career.”
Of course, this is Mourinho who no sooner comments in pubic on one of his team’s players than he moves to ensure the dialogue is all about him. His then issues a dig at Louis Van Gaal, his predecessor:
“First of all the teams are very different. The way the team played last season — I’m not saying better or worse, just different – was probably more adaptive to Anthony. He was probably more comfortable playing that way, at that intensity, at that rate of ball possession and ball circulation.”
He’s not saying it’s better or course to be less intense – which of course he is. “Anthony Martial struggling with Manchester United pace, says Mourinho,” declares the Guardian’s headline.
He then picks up his trumpet and blows hard:
“When I won the last title [with Chelsea] 18 years ago – sorry, 18 months ago – I had ten points advantage and then, in one month, I had the same points as Man City. We lost 10 points in one month. I think it was the end of December or the beginning of January and we’d lost 10 points. Then we recovered and won that title 18 years ago – sorry, 18 months ago. You can recover points. Others can lose points.”
When you lose, it’s you. When you win, it’s him.
In the Indy, we get an angle that maybe Martial’s dip in form is down to Mourinho’s love for Zlatan:
Martial’s form is believed to be down to a number of circumstances, including problems in his personal life and having a lack of a summer break after his efforts with France at Euro 2016.
He is also believed to be disappointed with United moving him from the No 9 shirt to the No 11 shirt in the wake of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival just as he launched the trademark ‘Martial9’.
At United, it’s so much about the marketing. Brand Jose always wins. It says so on the label:
Posted: 26th, November 2016 | In: manchester united, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
