Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho met the media today to preview his side’s UEFA Champions League clash at Benfica tomorrow (video of the press conference available at this link) and the tail end of the session got somewhat testy.
Mourinho got defensive when asked about his recent comments in which he said he would not be ending his career at Manchester United, and also hinted at managing Paris Saint-Germain (read his responses to that, and the controversy that ensued over at this link).
The press conference was already getting a bit tense, as an earlier question touched upon what Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren claimed yesterday. The Reds defender was adamant in his belief that Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku was intentionally trying to injure him.
Lukaku was not booked for their altercation, and the Football Association did an investigation of the incident through video, but decided against taking any action. Lovren still insisted he is in the right and that the FA ruling was incorrect.
Mourinho got asked about what Lovren had to say.
“You know, I read something but there is a big contradiction there because he says let’s move on and forget what happened, but then he spends 10 minutes speaking about what he thinks happened and didn’t happen,” Mourinho said.
‘So, for me, (they are) words without any meaning. The FA committee is there to analyse and make decisions, so no comment.’
Additionally, Mourinho was again asked about his ultra-pragmatic tactics at Anfield after United were once again heavily criticized for playing extremely defensive against their bitter rivals.
The only thing Mourinho had to say on that was: ‘I have just one comment. That’s none. No comment actually.’
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.