Jose Mourinho makes sly dig at his Premier League rivals by claiming managers are ‘afraid’ to become champions
Manchester United travel to Bournemouth on Sunday for season opener but will be without the suspended Paul Pogba
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Jose Mourinho claims his rivals are too afraid to admit they can win the title this season.
The Special One has no such qualms as he goes into his first Premier game as Manchester United boss.
He boldly put his cards on the table by declaring : “We’re going for the title. ”
But he insists adversaries like Arsene Wenger, Claudio Ranieri, Mauricio Pochettino, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are being mealy – mouthed about their ambitions.
Mourinho had promised that he would not be playing mind games after arriving at Old Trafford.
But the controversial Portuguese could not help himself as he described how others are keeping their heads under the parapet.
Having made his statement of intent as he prepared for tomorrow’s opener at Bournemouth he said : "We want to go for the title and many more think the same.
"But they are afraid to say so.
"They prefer a defensive game in words. They play with words or they hide.
"It is just a question of profile. It’s just a position.
"It can be strategic, it can be to protect what you can call a long-term project.
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"But even in a long – term project there is always the desire to do it now.
"We could also speak the same way but that is not our way, I don’t think it is Man Utd’s way."
Arsenal boss Wenger has only said that this year’s championship could produce the lowest –ever winning points total.
Defending boss Ranieri says that there is more chance of E.T. landing in London than Leicester repeating last year’s shock triumph.
Liverpool’s Klopp has said he has no idea of his team can go for it but Mourinho is adamant he can transform United after three miserable years under predecessors David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal.
And unlike them he believes he can be successful immediately, saying : “I have a three – year contract, take time to make a team.
“But behind the words would be the words to fight for the title.
“At the end of the season if someone is better than us, then great. That’s football.
“But we want to go for the title.”
Having promised there will be no holding back Mourinho cannot however, make a vow that he will always stick to the cavalier philosophy created by Sir Matt Busby and followed religiously by Sir Alex Ferguson.
But he does promise he will make them winners, explaining : “When I came to England in 2004, I saw Man United as a winning team, not as always an attacking team.
“I played sometimes against Man United and Man United was a defensive team.
“I play Real Madrid- Manchester United at Madrid and they crossed the midfield line twice and Wayne Rooney played outside left to defend my right back.
“I saw them always as a winning team with an attacking philosophy but a winning team.
“And the winning team needs to score more goals than they concede but not concede less goals than the goals you score.
“For me, Man United was always a winning team.
“That’s the challenge for Man United: to try to be a winning team in a new era of the Premier League that is much more difficult than before.
“So our job is really difficult but we want to win matches, we want to win competitions.
“To win isolated matches you can play bad but to win competitions you need to play well, you need to play well. That’s what we want.”
Meanwhile Mourinho says he will “forget” Paul Pogba until after tomorrow, have learned two days ago that United’s £89M world record signing carried over a one – match ban from Italy.
It came after he was booked in Juventus’ Coppa d’Italalia triumph over Milan and the United manager said : “I forget him like I forget any player injured or suspended until they are available.”
He also insisted that Adnan Januzaj is still wanted by him despite sending him on loan to Sunderland.
In a thinly – veiled dig at Van Gaal he says : “I send him on loan because I want him and I want him to play.
“But not at Borussia where he never got a game. He is somewhere where the manager likes him and will play him.”