Jose Mourinho post-match antics added to an odd turn of events following Manchester United's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday. The Portuguese manager's side, despite playing what is arguably their best game yet this season, failed to capitalize on a host of goalscoring opportunities and ended up falling on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.
The sight of an almost empty Old Trafford before full-time tells the whole story and Jose, perhaps elicited by the loss, spent a lengthy period applauding the faithfuls who endured till the end of the thumping. In addition to this, the 55-year-old manager's post-match press conference took an unusual route.
Mourinho – after giving his assessment of the significance of the results as well as the demeanor of the fans – walked out muttering "respect" repeatedly as a response to a question which he felt rubbed the night's result at his face. Prior to his withdrawal, the Manchester United manager reiterated that the result was not reflective of his team's overall performance and lashed out at the media personnel present for being bias in their reportage.
"I won three Premier League titles, which is more than any of the other 19 managers. Respect, please," Mourinho repetitively mentioned while he headed for the exit door. Watch:
'Respect!' Jose Mourinho's had it with his press conference pic.twitter.com/JytoDhBVXE
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 27, 2018
Mourinho defiantly insisting the result not reflective of how United played, implying media pick and choose when result matters.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) August 27, 2018
Insisting this is just down to bounces of the ball.
Mourinho's goes back on his own eternal arguments about results, and then turns to his two tactical responses in these situations:
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) August 27, 2018
Allude to his own history, as if that should make current results beyond criticism.
Praise fans, so they don't get on his back.
The result placed Manchester United at 13th on the league log with the club acquiring just three points from a possible nine. The Old Trafford outfit will be hoping to make amends when they travel to Burnley on Sunday although Mourinho's future is seemingly up in the air.