Jose Mourinho, bless him, has not had the best of summers
From a lack of transfer activity to being deprived of several senior members of his squad for their preseason tour of the United States, the Manchester United boss has spent a good chunk of the last few weeks telling anyone who’ll listen that he’s far from content with his team’s preparations for the new campaign.
His miserable outlook hasn’t gone unnoticed, contributing to the fact he’s some bookies’ favourite to be the first Premier League boss to leave their club in 2018/19.
But at least on Sunday, Jose found reason to smile…
Having rounded off their tour of the US with a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid last week, United played their final preseason game against Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena on Sunday evening.
The game was dull and United ended up losing to a single Javi Martinez goal, but Mourinho’s positive take on fielding several younger members of his squad was a welcome change from some of his recent comments.
🙃 pic.twitter.com/Fs4ZTqtIgf
— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) July 29, 2018
In a post-match interview, Mourinho mustered a smile as he talked about how Axel Tuanzebe, Demetri Mitchell, James Garner and Tahith Chong had all featured in the game, most operating against much more experienced opponents.
“There was Axel, centre back on the left, Demetri, left wingback, Garner, midfield on the left and Chong,” Mourinho said.
“At the same time there was [Robert] Lewandowski on Axel, [Arjen] Robben on Mitchell, [Leon] Goretzka on Garner and [Niklas] Sule on Chong. That’s fantastic, it’s absolutely fantastic.”
José sounds like he’s just discovered a new theory of playing young players and he can’t believe he’s not done it before.
Nice to see this side of him, rather than the miserable panto-villain.https://t.co/8WBbEA6u9n
— Jordan (@FourFourJordan) August 5, 2018
United begin their Premier League campaign on Friday evening, welcoming Leicester City to Old Trafford. By then, Mourinho will hope to have at least one more signing through the door.
