Jose Mourinho to channel the inner cool of Bjorn Borg to catch Manchester City
Old Trafford manager watched new film about tennis legend's 1980 Wimbledon final against John McEnroe and says he must harness that same steel
JOSE MOURINHO says he is going to maintain the ice cool of Bjorn Borg in pursuit of Manchester City.
The Manchester United boss saw the new film Borg vs McEnroe on Thursday night.
It centres around the rivalry between the tennis legends and their epic 1980 Wimbledon singles final.
John McEnroe was twice in the driving seat in that match but Borg hung in there, kept his head and finally won the final set 8-6.
That is exactly what Mourinho intends doing — staying cool and not taking any unnecessary risks just because the scoreboard is against him.
So yes, he will have a plan to win at Arsenal — but not one that will have changed just because leaders City are eight points ahead of him.
Mourinho said: “I play a game at a time and this is the way to do it.
“I was watching an interesting movie, Borg vs McEnroe, and Borg’s coach was telling him that all the time, one point at a time, think about just one point.
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“And I tell my players, just think about the game. It’s just the game, it’s Arsenal, we don’t think about how many points behind — just Arsenal.
“It is difficult enough to be focused on other things. Focus on this.”
While City boss Pep Guardiola has been bouncing around technical areas and running on to the pitch to celebrate, Mourinho has maintained pretty much a poker face this season.
Called “boring” for a goalless draw at Anfield, this is a manager whose side have scored four goals on eight occasions this season.
On his tactics at the Emirates, Mourinho said: “It depends what you feel about ‘risk’.
“I think in the beginning of football, the guy who decided to say ‘defenders’ or ‘attackers’ was bad.
“Because everybody has to defend and attack, especially in modern football.
“So for me you can say what you want, my keeper needs to know what to do when his team has the ball, how to attack, and my striker needs to know how to defend and what to do, this is simple.
“When we have the ball we’ll attack with 11 players — and when Arsenal have the ball we will defend with 11.”
So if you think Mourinho is going gung-ho at the Gunners, think again.
Mourinho always speaks of being “humble” against an opponent.
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Meaning you cannot have the arrogance to think you can go to a huge club and play them off the park.
He certainly does not think United can do it with Arsenal on a run of five wins in six league games.
Mourinho said: “They are a very good team, defending much better.
“They kept the good qualities in attack — with creativity, combination football and the talent of key players.”
It is against the very good teams where Mourinho’s United struggle away from home — with no wins in his last seven against the established top six.
To be fair he did win two trophies last season, has them second this term and all but in the Champions League last 16. The problem is City.
What must Mourinho have felt on Wednesday when Raheem Sterling curled home City’s 96th-minute winner?
All he can do is control what is in his hands and that is Arsenal tomorrow, CSKA Moscow on Tuesday and then a chance to eat into City’s lead with next weekend’s derby.
Then it will be Jose v Pep, an epic confrontation already played out in La Liga and now on the lawns of the Premier League.
It is still far from “game, set and match” — and Mourinho knows it.