Jose Mourinho’s English is good enough to know the difference between untouchable and untrustworthy… but he seems to have got them confused with Romelu Lukaku
One minute he was describing Romelu Lukaku as untouchable, the next he was telling Lukaku to give the ball to Blind to take a penalty
JOSE MOURINHO’S English is good enough to know the difference between untouchable and untrustworthy.
Yet he certainly left plenty of Manchester United fans scratching their heads as to whether his grasp of the lingo had slipped yesterday evening.
One minute he was describing Romelu Lukaku, his goal-shy striker, as one man in his side who should be above criticism.
A player whose performances, despite toiling in front of the target for six games now, put him in that “untouchable” bracket.
The next he was bellowing from the touchline, ordering Lukaku to hand the ball to Daley Blind to take the penalty which sealed United’s Champions League win over Benfica.
A show of strength from a muscle-flexing manager to avoid the risk of any resentful feelings of privilege spreading through the rest of the side?
Or an arm-round-the-shoulder act of kindness from a boss who knew a second successive fluffed spot kick would merely crank up the pressure on the Belgian?
Certainly Lukaku would have been on a hiding to nothing if he had stepped up. Score and everyone thinks ‘it’s only a penalty.’
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Miss and it’s more fuel for the ‘he couldn’t hit a barn door with a beachball’ brigade.
If United had already put daylight between them and the Portuguese champions, there’s every chance Mourinho would have left the decision to the players.
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Two or three in front by then, and Rom could have taken his chance knowing the points were already in the bag, and there’d be less chance of any Stretford End murmurings.
And a glance at Lukaku’s recent record from the spot definitely makes the manager’s decision a little easier to understand.
Of the last five he has taken for United, his country and previous club Everton, only two have ended up in the back of the net.
The most recent was the last of Belgium’s nine goals in a World Cup qualifying romp against whipping boys Gibraltar – hardly a make or break moment.
Five days earlier, though, he blew one for United against Leicester, and although his last goal for Everton came from the spot at Arsenal in May, the previous two were misses.
One ironically came AGAINST United in the 2016 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, while he also had one saved in Everton’s home loss to West Ham a month earlier.
Of course Mourinho is a man who could start an argument in an empty room. A man who gives the impression he’s not doing his job properly if there isn’t conflict somewhere down the line.
Although taking a pop at United fans who haven’t exactly turned on Lukaku – the opposite in fact – is a strange one, because that really is a battle he cannot ever hope to win.
Naturally enough, there are arguments on both sides. Some believe it was a case of Jose considering the repercussions for his striker had he missed, and how it would affect him.
Others believe it was simply a case of showing who’s the boss, even if it comes at the expense of the one man he has just praised above all others.
But one thing Mourinho and United fans SHOULD be pleased about is this…
The mere fact Lukaku was desperate to grab the ball and step up to the spot proves that for all his current barren spell, his confidence and self belief certainly remain sky high.
And as long as it remains so, they will all reap the benefit in the end.
