Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho met the media a few hours ago to preview this weekend’s Premier League clash at AFC Bournemouth. We have video of the entire media session for you here below via YouTube.
There were a whole host of topics covered in the Mourinho news conference, including the club’s current ambitions for the season, where they ultimately want to be, how the current fixture schedule has impact on that and much more:
“When you are outside the top four I don’t think you should speak about the title,” Jose Mourinho said during the session.
“When you are top four you can look up, see the distance, look to the fixtures, to the calendar, you can look to the situation at the moment, injuries, suspension, form and then you can feel it, but in this moment we are outside the top four so the point is now to get the points we need to try and be at the end of December in a better position than we are in now at this moment.”
United’s trip to the south coast tomorrow is the first of three consecutive road games in the upcoming week. It’s the second time the Red Devils will deal with having three consecutive road matches.
“I always say that in the end of the season you play 19 matches at home and away and it doesn’t matter when, but the reality is that the way the fixtures are coming sometimes they have an influence in the moment,” he continued.
The schedule is about to get much tougher for United. Not only will they have more matches, away from home, but they will be taking on tougher competition. They’re currently eighth in the table after completing a stretch of the season that was less challenging, so it’s understandable if optimism is low.
Or maybe the side will rise up to the occasion and the challenge?
“We had a double fixture away at Burnley and Watford, now we have a double fixture at Bournemouth and Manchester City. We will have Juventus away before Manchester City and we will have Valencia away before Liverpool,” Jose Mourinho added.
“In this part of the season we play away against possibly the three biggest candidates for the title: Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City; so the calendar was not nice to us, but I think by the end of December, which is the end of the first half of the Premier League, we are not going to be in the position we are now.”
“We will be a better position.”
Manchester United at Bournemouth FYIs
Injury report for both teams: go to this link
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: Saturday, November 3, 12:30 PM local, Dean Court
Odds via Betway: Bournemouth 13/5, Draw 5/2, United 21/20
Prediction: United 2, Bournemouth 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.