MANCHESTER UNITED FANS have invited manager Jose Mourinho to discuss his concerns around the atmosphere at Old Trafford after apparent tensions surfaced in recent games.
The Portuguese boss held a finger to his lips and told the doubters to calm down after his side beat Tottenham 1-0 on Saturday to remain five points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
In the build-up to Tuesday’s Champions League home win against Benfica, Mourinho wrote in his programme notes to supporters that he hoped they “enjoy the game more than some of you did against Tottenham”.
It followed a series of uninspiring performances by the formerly free-scoring United, including a drab 0-0 draw at Anfield.
The United boss was also put out by an apparent lack of support for Romelu Lukaku against Spurs, saying it was unfair that fans “don’t support him so much” and that they should view him as “untouchable” despite a fallow spell in recent weeks — he has gone six games without a goal after scoring 11 in his first 10 matches.
“There are differing views amongst supporters on precisely how to interpret the manager’s comments,” the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) said in a statement.
“However it’s probably fair to say there is a universal desire within the stadium to see atmosphere improved just as there is at other Premier League clubs.
“There are a number of factors that have contributed to atmosphere decline over the decades, some of which could be addressed with better cooperation between clubs and supporters.”
United take on Chelsea on Sunday but they are not back in action on home soil until 18 November, when Newcastle visit in the late Premier League kick-off.
Mourinho has regularly spoken about the Old Trafford atmosphere since joining the club but support for players is a new issue.
The United boss did, though, offer an insight into the seemingly current fragile nature of Lukaku’s confidence after preventing him from taking a penalty on Tuesday.
Mourinho’s men rode their luck after taking the lead against Benfica through Mile Svilar’s own goal, with Daley Blind told to take the spot-kick that wrapped up a 2-0 win rather than Lukaku — now without a club goal since September 30.
Mourinho defended his decision to order Blind to take the penalty.
“My decision, based on what we did in training in the past couple of days, was Blind,” he said. “The players respected my decision. That’s it, end of story.”
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Lack of leadership is probably where Tipp have fallen down most since 2010. The likes of Mahony, Curran, Kelly, Cummins, Fanning were the type of players to take responsibility when the game was on the line. Conor O’Mahony’s intro last year v. Galway instantly galavanised Tipp and led to a fight back. Even if we eventually lost his influence on the game was noticeable. Of the 8 list above all are fantastic players, but for key men in the team most of them (Seamie and Barry aside) have tendency to be inconsistent, passive or go missing when the game is in the balance. Harsh to criticise your best players, but also hard to watch a team capable of winning All Ireland’s squander the opportunity year after year particularly when someone like EOS’s playing style made for the most exciting spectacles of total hurling when it came off. There are extenuating circumstances of course Brendan and Paudi have played out of position, Cahill and Bonnar have been disrupted by injuries and Noel’s troubles and comeback have been well documented but as their careers wear on you want to see them achieve the feats their talents are capable of.
How did Galway beat these guys last year.
They really are as unpredictable as … well Galway!!
This should be a handy one for Tipp at the wk end.
Jeez I dunno, Cork are very quiet and this is set up nicely for them, they love Thurles and they turned it on against Kilkenny in the league, all depends on which cork turns up but they rarely fail to fire against Tipp, and they owe them one since 2014
Couldn’t agree more with you An_Neal_Bocht. We went down in 2010 as red hot favourites and got ambushed. Cork are too quite and as you say they love Thurles. Still reckon we will win but not by a cricket score.
Cork are terrible.
They might ambush someone later in the year but it’s +10pts in favour of Tipp on Sunday
Not ten I think it will be close enough the two teams need to proform
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cork win this one. Pushed kilkenny all the way in a thriller and also went to Galways back yard and beat em in the relegation final. The pessure is all on Tipp, will they be able to handle it? They can’t be too confident going by whats happened in the last few years and all the close games they’ve lost.
Some man for the lists Jackie.