Counting chickens before they are hatched is easy when all of your eggs are in the same basket. José Mourinho has already counted the chickens and has decided that he will gamble on them all hatching.
Just to prove how confident he is in this he is also trying his hand at juggling with them! He doesn’t have another basket to hand, just in case a fox comes to steal the first one. He has decided that guarding the basket by concentrating all his efforts on it’s safety is the way forward.
He did have an opportunity, which he chose to ignore, to qualify for the Champion’s League by virtue of finishing in the top four. To do so he would have had to have beaten Arsenal and Tottenham away from home, a feat which Sir Alex Ferguson did not find too difficult on several occasions.
Mourinho chose to “throw” these games. That is not to say he knew he would definitely lose them. No, he would always be able to argue that the teams he fielded against both Arsenal and Tottenham were loaded with international players. The problem was that they hadn’t played many games together, lacked cohesion and simply weren’t good enough, even against Arsenal!
Losing these two games took away any chance, however remote, of a top four finish and has left United needing to beat Ajax in the Europa League final to earn automatic qualification for next year’s Champion’s League. This would have been a much more comfortable game had United been able to boast being already qualified for that competition.
Mourinho, of course, will be proved correct if United do pick up the trophy in Stockholm but if they lose and have to spend another season in the Europa League he will end up with egg on his face. That’s what comes of counting chickens in the same basket before they have hatched, whilst juggling with them at the same time!
It is also necessary to take into consideration the fact that United have never won the Europa League. This is now a competition which appeals to Mourinho for three reasons.
Firstly, he is already the first Manchester United manager in history to win a trophy in his first season. He could make that two and have the prestige of one of them being a European trophy. He likes that idea.
Secondly, he wants to qualify for the Champion’s League next season and he sees this as the way to do it. He also likes that idea.
Finally, and most importantly, this would be the first time United have won this particular tournament. This is another idea which appeals to José, or rather, to his ego.
So a win in Stockholm has José breaking some records and, by way of a change from Louis van Gaal and David Moyes, they are records United will enjoy breaking, as will the long-suffering supporters.
Next season will see José Mourinho and his counterpart at Manchester City under considerably more pressure than they have felt this season. They will both have had a year in charge and an August transfer window where they will have spent £££millions. Both will need to challenge for the title and both will need to have a decent run in the Champions League, which could prove difficult for United should they lose to Ajax.
The title race should be a lot more interesting next time out as should the Champion’s League. It will all depend on how many baskets of eggs Mourinho is counting.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 