Jose Mourinho’s bad luck stories getting boring following Manchester United’s humbling defeats to Man City and Bristol City
Special One mentioned word 'lucky' SEVEN times in post-match interview while Rafa Benitez could call on Jack Colback
THERE is an awful lot of bad luck going around at the moment.
Jose Mourinho, the sport’s ultimate trophy-hunter, is being dogged by it.
Apparently, Manchester City were “lucky” to win 2-1 at Old Trafford on December 10 after referee Michael Oliver failed to award a 79th-minute penalty. OK, Jose.
On Wednesday, the Special One belittled Bristol City by claiming seven times in an interview lasting just one minute and 45 seconds that they were “lucky” to win their Carabao Cup quarter- final against United.
The new Mourinho is sounding an awful lot like the old Mourinho.
Sometimes it’s better to accept that you have been beaten fair and square.
The big man, a man who won league titles in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, can do better than this. Much better.
Sure, he made it clear that he did not want to detract from Bristol City’s big night — and yet they were lucky all the same.
LEE TO VICTORY Lee Johnson celebrates Bristol City’s win over Manchester United with ball boy
It was not a particularly humble, dignified, or honourable way to behave after being knocked out.
Defeat, as embarrassing as it is when a club with United’s clout loses against Championship opposition, is not the end of the world. Stuff happens.
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There was just nothing especially lucky about Bristol City’s spine-tingling 2-1 win at Ashton Gate. Lee Johnson’s side deserved it.
With it went the chance for Mourinho to get his hands on the trophy for a record fifth time.
His blood is boiling at the moment, barely able to keep his composure after Manchester City stretched their lead to 11 points with victory over United.
You can be sure it is eating away at him.
Soon enough, City, Arsenal or Chelsea will be parading the first trophy of the season around Wembley.
The Special One has been around long enough to know what happens next because the trophy count has become so important to top bosses.
Last year, Mourinho won three — yes, including the Community Shield — and Manchester City, for all the money lavished on Pep Guardiola’s project, finished empty-handed.
History will not be kind to Mourinho this year.
He is one bad loser, well aware the country is in thrall to Pep and his purposeful, dizzying style of football.
United, the team Mourinho has built in his own image, do not have that.
Paul Pogba, the player every pro-Mourinho punter going claimed would have changed the course of the Manchester derby, was on the pitch at Ashton Gate.
The £89million midfielder did not do much, except to clatter a few Robins players when it got a bit heated in the centre of the park.
Pogba is surely one of a number of United players Mourinho was referring to when he claimed they “did not want to be at the office”.
United’s manager was back at his desk yesterday, trying to work out a way to put a positive spin on the season so far. After defeat against City earlier this month, the dressing room set its sights on second place.
The players know that City will not be caught, not in this rampant, ruthless mood.
That will be niggling Mourinho because his stodgy side are way off City’s pace at the top of the Premier League.
That, no doubt, is just a bit of bad luck.
Mourinho's Lucky Seven
Jose Mourinho labelled Bristol City ‘lucky’ a staggering seven times in his post-match interview detailed below . . .
“My thoughts are they were a bit LUCKY. But they fought a lot to be LUCKY. So I have to say they were a bit LUCKY.
“I congratulate them. I don’t want that I say they are LUCKY to be the main thing of it.
“The Marcus Rashford shot hits the inside of the post and comes out, so they were a bit LUCKY.
“They tried to win the game in the 90 minutes, which they could, and they were very, very LUCKY to have the goal in the last second. But again I don’t want the fact I used the word LUCKY to be the most important thing.”
Rafa Benitez is forever moaning about the failure of Newcastle’s board to bring in top-quality players after winning promotion.
After eight defeats in nine games, his argument would be a lot stronger if everybody at the club was given a fair crack.
Instead Jack Colback, the one player guaranteed to get stuck in, remains excluded from first-team training under the Toon manager.
Spine is a prickly problem
The spine of England’s World Cup side was blown away when Tottenham were thrashed 4-1 at Manchester City last weekend.
Eric Dier, who was dreadful, along with Harry Winks, Danny Rose, Dele Alli and Harry Kane are all suffering an alarming dip in form.
Fully fit, those five celebrated players will all expect to start England’s opening group game against Tunisia in Volgograd on June 18.
Gareth Southgate, who went to Leicester-Crystal Palace last weekend instead of City-Spurs, still believes this group of players will make a big impact in Russia next summer.
They were certainly brimming with confidence when they dismantled European Cup holders Real Madrid at Wembley last month, but that feels like a distant memory now.
Spurs were played off the park at City, bewildered by the pace and movement of Ilkay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne during their damaging defeat.
It is a short-term setback for these players but the next test for them is at Turf Moor tomorrow.
Against Burnley, those boys will need to show a bit of backbone.
James McClean does not do himself any favours with fellow pros.
McClean was chirruping away during West Brom’s defeat against Manchester United last weekend by asking their players, in more colourful language than you will see on these pages, just who they thought they were.
Given McClean’s limitations, it is a pretty daft thing for him to be shouting at players with cupboards full of silverware.
No fun in the sun
One of the many problems England will have to overcome at their Repino training base in Russia is the number of daylight hours in the summer.
In mid-June, when the Three Lions arrive at their World Cup home west of Saint Petersburg, daybreak is at 3.30am and the sun does not set until 10.30pm.
So Gareth Southgate’s players will have to adjust to 19 hours of continuous daylight.
Either that, or the lights will go out on their World Cup hopes.