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Football

16th Dec 2018

Mourinho sets out United’s realistic target now and Roy Keane’s reaction sums up every United fan

Niall McIntyre

Mourinho is sure that United will finish in the top six.

He thinks that they can finish in the top four. All going very well, that’s where the club will be come the end of the season and this depressing place is where they’ve been heading for quite a while now.

Ever since they abandoned the long-term vision and the proud principals that created the reputation they had and the reputation they’ve been throwing away so carelessly over the last few years in favour of shortcuts, in favour of slipshod, makeshift solutions, this is exactly where they’ve been heading.

From stability to chaos. From domination to deterioration.

Ever since they started splashing out millions on players like Angel Di Maria and Falcao and their vice-chairman Ed Woodward justified this by the fact that these players had gotten more Google searches than they ever had before.

Ever since men like Richard Arnold, the Group Managing Director at the club was boasting about the United App having a 4.9 rating on the App store on the same evening they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Derby.

Ever since they lost focus.

Ever since they forgot about the identity they once had, they were always heading towards 3-1 defeats like the one this Sunday against Liverpool and for it not to have been in any way surprising.

Jose Mourinho, whether he likes it or not, has been a part of this startling downfall and his post-match interview after yet another dull, listless loss sums up just how far they’ve fallen.

It was an honest interview from Mourinho, but if United fans were put in a time machine five years ago and were transported to this, they’d have laughed at how fanciful it all was for say, a Liverpool fan.

On Sky Sports, Mourinho is asked if he can fix this mess they’re in.

“What do you mean by fix? If you mean win the title, of course not, I can’t fix it. We can still finish top four. For sure we will finish in the top six but the best we can get is fourth position.”

Roy Keane’s non-plussed reaction to that in the Sky Sports studio sums up how every United fan feels about this whole thing. Underwhelmed.

After that, Mourinho got a little bit tetchy with Shreeves.

“Are the players giving everything for you? asked Shreeves.

“What is that? Play for me? Are you calling the players dishonest? You are asking me if they are dishonest. I believe they are honest and you believe they are dishonest. A footballer has to give everything every day, every minute, it doesn’t matter about the manager or anything else. I don’t call them dishonest at all.”

It’s hard to know what to make of it all.

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