‘Money can’t but you love’, screamed the Beatles, as it appears that £300 million can’t buy you a place in the quarter finals of Europe’s premier football competition either.
So for Jose Mourinho it continues, the post-mortem into the carcass of Manchester United’s, Champions League dream. Preliminary findings have revealed that the body had no heart, was bereft of inspiration and was missing quite a few creative sparks.
As a manager Mourinho has brilliance, his trophy room bares testament to that, and he has reminded many in the game that defending is an art form every bit as important as attacking and midfield creativity.
This is the club José Mourinho was scared to attack. pic.twitter.com/XrFZ8TQlZP
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) March 13, 2018
It’s just that as a man he now all too often comes across as classless, ungracious in defeat and sneering in victory.
It wasn’t lost on the club’s supporters, and no doubt its Directors, that in the post-match press conference after the Seville defeat, Mourinho referenced two other occasions where United had lost at home in the Champions League, to Porto and Real Madrid. Two teams of whom he was the manager at the time.
It’s a twisted form of narcissism, but it’s this narcissism which defines him.