WHY SAY ANYTHING?

There has been a lot of rubbish written recently as to why José Mourinho bought Romelu Lukaku and why, supposedly, he wants to buy Timoue Bakayoko. Amongst the explanations given has been one which suggests that he wants to get one over his old club.

Why? What would that achieve? Personal satisfaction because they sacked him? We doubt that, particularly when all the evidence points to Mourinho having engineered his own exit so that he could take the United job. (Read here, if you haven’t already done so).

Apart from which, Mourinho may be a spiteful person at times, but he is much too professional to let that side of his personality affect his judgement when it concerns Manchester United.

No, he bought Romelu Lukaku because Real Madrid were being their usual obstinate and arrogant selves as far as the fee for Alvaro Morata was concerned. Even Dithering Ed can only take so much so, when Real refused to negotiate on Morata, attention was turned to plan B, which just happened to be Lukaku.

Bear in mind, he was an Everton player in whom Chelsea had an interest. So What! Are United just supposed to leave him alone because of that?

As far as the Bakayoko stories go, there is little or no foundation in any of them and he will sign for Chelsea.

José Mourinho would focus on overcoming any club who had been champions the previous season. This time out that just happens to be Chelsea.

There is no history of him trying any gamesmanship with previous clubs. True, this may have been because he always changed countries when changing clubs so he rarely encountered any of his earlier employers but, on the odd occasion they did meet, there was never an indication that winning a particular game would give him more satisfaction than winning any game.

He may appear to relish challenges against the top six more than others but this is just his competitive nature. They are the teams which, supposedly, are going to challenge him for the title. They are the teams who, by finishing above him will get him sacked and by finishing below him will make him a hero. So there is always a perception of more pressure on these games.

There is just as much riding on the others though. Think back to all the draws at Old Trafford last season. They weren’t all against the top six teams. In fact the games against Burnley, Stoke, West Ham, Bournemouth, Swansea and Everton were, in total, far more costly as far as the title was concerned than were the two draws against Liverpool and Arsenal.

But the pressure in all of these games was the same. Mourinho’s desire to win all of these games was the same. The players would also have been wanting three points from ALL of those matches, particularly as they were all at home.

The fact of the matter was that, however you look at it, they weren’t good enough last season. Not good enough to get into the top four anyway and a team not good enough to do that is certainly not going to challenge in the Champion’s League for any length of time.

This is why Mourinho is now spending £millions. Yes, it is to get one over on Chelsea from a title perspective because he wants to finish above them. He also wants to finish above every other team in the Premier League, thus getting one over on them as well.

Chelsea need to stop sulking and thinking that it is all about them and get back to work on improving their squad. It is they who are obsessed with Mourinho, not the other way round and, at present, it is clouding their opinion and their judgement.