Jose on Pep, City and the title

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho speaks to Patrick Davison in an exclusive interview ahead of the Manchester derby, which is live on Sky Sports on Saturday lunchtime.

He admitted, within a few minutes of taking his seat, that he was, ‘never careful with words’.

“That’s not me,” he continued. “And it’s not Manchester United. They’re too big for that.”

He was talking about his decision, discussed and agreed with the players, to announce that winning the title was their target this season, while other managers (who could he mean?) have been more ‘defensive’, preferring, publicly at least, to talk of ‘easier, safer targets’.

Pep Guardiola knows better than most that Mourinho is not ‘careful’ with words.

While Barcelona manager, he was on the receiving end end of them more than once.

But that wasn’t the Mourinho who sat down with us this week. This week he was respectful, understated, and, as he has been since becoming Manchester United manager, focused entirely on his own club. In short, he was careful.

“I’m not interested,” he says of all the hype and attention surrounding the build-up. “I just want to be at Old Trafford and the game to start. If I could I would play it tonight.”

He didn’t want to be drawn on Guardiola. Certainly he did not want to talk about their history. He doesn’t feel their previous encounters, many of them big games shrouded in bad blood, will have any effect on the Manchester derby.

“They are …

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