The dictionary defines the word blase as “unimpressed or indifferent to something because one has experienced or seen it so often before.” The adjective perfectly describes Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho as he gave his postgame reaction to his side crashing out of the UEFA Champions League, at the hands of Sevilla.
He said the shock defeat, 2-1 at home, was not “the end of the world,” and not something to “make a drama” of.
“I said that it would be disappointment if we would lose the match I don’t want to make a drama of it. We have a match on Saturday, we have no time to be sad for more than 24 hours and that’s football, is not the end of the world,” Mourinho said in his postgame press conference.
“We still have the FA Cup to try and win. A very good team like Tottenham, they only have the FA Cup and Liverpool don’t have the FA Cup, they only have the Champions League. We have to go again.”
What was most odd about his postgame commentary however, was his remark on how United crashing out of the Champions League is “not something new,” as he referenced the fact that two of his former teams eliminated United.
“I sit in this chair twice in the Champions League and knock Man United out with Porto and Real Madrid, so is not something new for the club, and of course being Man United manager and losing a Champions League tie at home is a disappointment.”
United failed to play aggressively in either leg of the tie, and took a ridiculously conservative approach in the road leg. The result was four shots on target in both games combined. Mourinho remained defiant however, refusing to admit that this showing was bad.
“That’s statistics,” Mourinho responded condescendingly.
“I don’t think the performance was bad. I think the intention and the way we started was really good, really positive. In the first half I don’t remember a dangerous situation for them.”
“We had again a good start in the second half and had chances to score and the first goal will always change the direction of the game and the first goal was for them.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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