Given all the negative press around Old Trafford at the moment, you would have thought that Manchester United had been having a nightmare season. As it is, Jose Mourinho’s men are through to the knockout stages of the Europa League and sit sixth in the Premier League table ahead of hosting Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Stats have been doing the rounds saying that Mourinho has had a worse start to his career than current Sunderland manager David Moyes and the league table doesn’t exactly make pretty reading. The Red Devils are 13 points off leaders Chelsea and nine points of neighbours Man City and a Champions League place, but a win against Spurs would see United just three points off fifth.
Whisper it quietly, but things might just be coming together for Mourinho. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has finally found favour and while their Premier League results have been far from impressive, they are unbeaten in six and with two Europa League clean sheets in a row, Mourinho’s revered mean defence might just be coming to the fore.
The match against Tottenham will tell us a lot. A 5-0 demolition of Swansea City at White Hart Lane last time out in the league shows that Spurs are dangerous if you’re not on your game and their only defeat came against the current league leaders.
