Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is definitely not a shy person in press conferences. He has no qualms about speaking his mind, and telling it like it is. And by that we mean how it is through his lens of interpretation. So when he was asked to give a summary of the club’s current problems yesterday, a thorough and likely blunt answer was expected.
Instead Mourinho gave a shorter and more cryptic answer.
“I think there are things that are difficult for me to say and if I say [them] it’s not good for me and even yourself would be getting another reason to criticize me,” Mourinho told his post match news conference following a goalless draw with Valencia in a UEFA Champions League group stage clash.
“I think you have had enough, so I prefer just to say when last season we finish second, runners-up in the FA Cup, we won our group in the Champions League, I said it was a fantastic season and I knew why I was saying that.”
This could just be Jose Mourinho continuing his war on the media this season, and an attempt to give the press less material to criticize him and the club with. After all, he is right about all the harsh criticism both he and his club have received this season. Of course, what do you expect when you’re at such a prestigious club, and you’re fielding such awful results despite fielding a team that was so expensive to put together?
More criticism from the media certainly won’t solve United’s vast issues, so Jose Mourinho is right about that too.
On the other hand, Mourinho might be saying something next to nothing here because he knows just how dire the situation is at the club, and he knows he can’t just deny that any more. Perhaps he’s just gotten tired of trying to hide the club’s issues and putting a positive spin on a very negative situation.
Yes, it seems that so-called third season syndrome has certainly arrived.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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