Battle lines drawn as Jose seeks fan support

Jose Mourinho strode proudly onto the Old Trafford pitch, draped in club colours, looking for all the world like an omnipotent Caesar enjoying the spoils of war before his adoring public, writes Ian Whittell

It was certainly an historic evening, in the aftermath of Tottenham’s clinical 3-0 dismantling of Mourinho’s Manchester United, although not in the way the manager’s “celebrations” suggested.

Historic, as United, for the first time in 26 years, lost two of their opening three league games of a campaign.

And historic as Mourinho, the self-styled Special One who has dominated the English football landscape, on and off, for big chunks of the last 14 years, suffered the biggest home defeat of his managerial career.

But, as Mourinho lingered on the field, hugging players and waving appreciatively to those United supporters who had seen the evening out until the bitter end, there was more to it than the simple explanation from the manager that he was thanking fans for their backing.

This was Mourinho at his Machiavellian best, every bit as creative and devastating as the performance of Tottenham’s Brazilian Lucas Moura who had scored two goals over the preceding 90 minutes.

Make no mistake, the battle lines are being drawn at Old Trafford. They have been since a summer of discontent in which Mourinho, with increasing disquiet and dissatisfaction, complained about executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward’s failure to deliver his desired transfer targets.

On Friday, Mourinho had snarled and sulked his way through an eight-minute press conference before the media, refusing to answer questions, complaining at every turn about his portrayal and treatment in the press.

Jose has gone into jungle warfare mode,” observed one seasoned Mourinho watcher and here, in the wake of a potentially catastrophic home defeat, was more of the same.

If the battle lines are between the football man, Mourinho, and the largely faceless financial figures behind the Old Trafford throne, as personified by Woodward, then it is a relatively simple task for a master manipulator like the United manager to ensure the court of public opinion finds in his favour.

“All our fans don’t read papers, all our fans don’t watch TV,” snarled Mourinho sarcastically to Sky TV immediately after the game when asked for his thoughts about United fans chanting his name towards the end of the defeat.

All our fans are more intelligent than that and they answered in that absolutely amazing way. I don’t think it’s normal, a team to lose a game at home and the supporters to react in the way they did.

To his credit, interviewer Geoff Shreeves picked Mourinho up on his nonsense.

“They do read papers and watch TV, Jose, but they were responding to the positive way you played in the first half …” And there was the crux. For once — and here was another clever weapon in Mourinho’s bid to win over United hearts and minds — United threw caution to the wind in the first half against Spurs, tearing into them with purpose, speed and precision and coming close to what would have been a precious opening goal.

Instead, they were picked off brutally by Tottenham in the second half, an excruciating 45 minutes that underlined just how far United’s defence is from top four — let alone title-winning — standard.

Mourinho, of course, conveniently forgets he has already invested over £60m (€66m) in two central defenders, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof, who are way below the necessary standard.

But when Woodward, on transfer deadline day, briefed media about United’s underwhelming transfer window, suggesting the club did have the funds to invest in players, just not the ones Mourinho wanted, then that was tantamount to a declaration of war on the manager.

“It’s time now for United to batten down the hatches, for Jose Mourinho and Ed Woodward to sort themselves out, if there is a problem, and get themselves sorted,” said Gary Neville, a man who knows a thing or two about United, past and present.

Because the club is bigger than any individual and this is no time for in-fighting and politics.

Mourinho, undoubtedly, will not see it that way and, for now, Woodward and the media are joint targets in his eyes.

A siege mentality is nothing new in football, as Alex Ferguson will readily testify, but one wonders if, in Mourinho’s world view, it is more a case of “me against the world”.

It certainly looked that way in the closing moments of yet another prickly, excruciating press conference half an hour after the game on Monday.

Mourinho sank deeper and deeper into self-justification, finally holding up three fingers to explain that not only did this represent the scoreline on the night but also the three Premier League titles he has on his CV.

“Do you know what this means?” he shrieked rhetorically. “It means 3-0 but also means three Premier Leagues and I have won more alone than the other 19 managers together, three to two. So (show) respect.”

With that, Mourinho exited, like a petulant teenager, muttering “respect” repeatedly on his way out of the auditorium.

Ostensibly, he was talking to reporters.

On some level, he may well have been addressing Woodward.