If There’s One Manager Who Can’t Blame Luck It’s Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho once again spun his wheel of excuses and came up with a new one. “We all know inside that in this moment we are the unlucky team in the Premier League,” he moaned after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal last Saturday.

After everything that’s happened this season, Mourinho decided to offer the flimsiest of justifications. It was all down to misfortune.

“If we just focus on [draws against] Burnley, Stoke and Arsenal… nine points easily,” he continued after seeing his side concede a late equaliser having dominated Arsenal for much of the game (per BBC Sport). “If we had those six points more we are top four and close to the top of the league.”

But they don’t. Instead United are currently slumped in sixth place, a full nine points off the top of the table.

If there’s one manager who can’t blame recent results on a lack of luck, it’s Mourinho. He might have been able to fall back on such an excuse after one or two disappointing games, but is the United boss really trying to put such a dismal start to the campaign, of which nearly a third has now been played, down to something as intangible as fortune?

Mourinho doesn’t get to use luck, or a lack thereof, as an excuse after everything he has been given as Manchester United manager. The Old Trafford club have the highest wage bill in Europe, yet Mourinho still can’t find a way to string together a series of even credible performances and results. 

They say league positions are ultimately decided by who pays the most money, whether that be on wages or transfers. That progress is incremental, with the glaring exception of Leicester City last season. By that measure, Mourinho isn’t so much getting the best out of his squad but the worst.

United should be challenging for the title on the basis of their financial might. Instead they are scrapping to just finish in the top four.

Of course, it makes a change from Mourinho blaming referees and officials for his team’s bad results, although he …

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