EPL | Worrying signs for Man United as Mourinho loses cool

Jose Mourinho

With his team trailing by three goals and Old Trafford rapidly emptying around him, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho stood in his technical area and stared blankly onto the field.

There was an air of helplessness around one of soccer’s most decorated coaches who was facing the biggest home loss of his career and the prospect of losing two of the season’s first three league games for the first time at any of his clubs.

Mourinho would go on to praise his team after the 3-0 loss to Tottenham — “from a strategic view, we didn’t lose,” he said, “from a tactical view, we didn’t lose” — and defend his own record as a manager in a stormy news conference in which he demanded “respect, respect, respect.”

Yet, Mourinho surely knows United is in a hole. He even predicted this would happen in one of his gloomy preseason statements, when he said “it will be a difficult season for us” if he didn’t get any defensive reinforcements (which he didn’t).

There were some eye-opening comments after the loss to Tottenham, highlighting the identity crisis that might be enveloping United. And there’s also Mourinho’s despair about a defense that already has let in seven goals in the first three games — the most United has conceded in 49 years.

Also of concern must be the inconsistent displays of his two marquee players, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez. Then there’s the manager himself: Is he missing long-time assistant Rui Faria? Is he sending out the right signals with his off-field surliness and pessimism? AP