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Football

06th Oct 2018

Jose Mourinho says Manchester United midfielder was “scared” against Newcastle

Wayne Farry

Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho should be a happy man right now

With his  Manchester United job hanging on the line on Saturday evening, Mourinho saw his team recover from 2-0 down at home to Newcastle United to come back at win 3-2.

That victory may well have kept Mourinho in a job – until after the international break at least – or not, considering that some of the speculation suggested that he was gone after Saturday, win or lose.

Either way, if this does end up being Mourinho’s final game in charge at Old Trafford he’ll have gone out with the sort of dramatic comeback win that became something of a trademark for Sir Alex Ferguson but has rarely been seen since.

In his post-match interviews however, Mourinho did not have the demeanour of someone who had just witnessed his side show the sort of resolve he’s no doubt been hoping to see for years.

Instead, he cut a rather forlorn figure, discussing Brexit, the rain, and that there is “too much wickedness in football”.

He then followed the complaint about football’s “wickedness” by criticising two of his young players, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay.

Mourinho referred to Rashford as being “sad on the pitch” and McTominay as being “scared”, exactly the sort of positive reinforcement that his time at Manchester United has become known for.

If nothing else, it’s interesting to see that Jose throws his players under the bus, win or lose.