When it rains, it pours for Jose Mourinho at the minute.
The Manchester United manager is not averse to feeling sorry for himself and unduly victimised on occasions, but in this instance he probably has some right to wonder, ‘Why me?, whilst cursing his thoroughly rotten fortune this week.
On Monday night, his carefully laid out tactical plan to thwart all-conquering Chelsea, or project ‘Break Eden’, was thwarted by the sending off of key man Ander Herrera for a second yellow card. And then United lost. And then it got worse.
Fully aware that United would have to physically and mentally recover for the now even more crucial Europa League game with Rostov on Thursday, Mourinho was keen to get his charges back to Manchester as swiftly as possible.
But he hadn’t accounted for his shitty luck.
United’s scheduled flight back up north failed to show on time at Heathrow, forcing them to make alternative plans at the very last minute. That meant forgoing the comfort and speed of a plane ride for a sapping late night coach journey instead.
And that’s not the end of it either. Due to roadworks, the motorway trip took five hours to complete, meaning they only arrived back at Carrington at 4am in the morning. They were back in training for Rostov a mere nine hours after that.
So we can forgive Mourinho for looking a little worse for wear in his pre-game press conference. He’s had quite a week already.
