Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic believes that manager Jose Mourinho has a method to his madness with the media. Mourinho has recently taken his contentious relationship with the media up to Trumpian levels (to match the Trumpesque braggadocio, narcissism and actor-observer bias that he’s been showcasing lately as well).
While almost all pundits and observers have been saying that Mourinho is feeling the pressure, and it’s driving him to behave erratically, Matic begs to differ. The Serbian, who also worked well under Mourinho at Chelsea, maintains that the Portugese knows exactly what he’s doing right now.
“He was very confident before the game he prepared the game in a very good way,” Matic said of Mou’s preparations ahead of the 2-0 win at Burnley on Sunday.
“We knew where they could cause us problems with the long balls, that is why Fellaini played close to our defense, to stop the long balls and I think this performance shows that how we need to play football and we still can compete for the title.”
“Of course, he knows what he is doing [in press conferences] for sure. You probably know that also. It’s good for us also.”
“He is one of the best managers in the world, you know what he won in his career so that shows you everything.”
Matic has typically been a de facto manager on the pitch for Mourinho over the years, and thus you would expect him to show strong solidarity such as this for Mourinho right now when he’s under fire.
Matic and United will next take on Watford on Sept 15.
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