What’s the story?
Manchester United’s Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho spoke to the press before the Red Devils’ FA Cup 6th round fixture against Blackburn Rovers, admitting that he had learned his lesson from throwing away FA Cup games in the past.
“I am going to change a few players, but am going with a good team because I respect the competition a lot and Manchester United demands that you go serious to every game,” he stated.
In case you didn’t know…
Manchester United are facing a potential fixture pile-up in the coming days with matches in the Premier League, the League Cup final, the 6th round of the FA Cup and the Europa League round of 32 away leg against St Etienne all scheduled to take place.
In his first stint in England as manager of London club Chelsea in 2005, Mourinho’s Blues had faced a similar fixture pile-up where they faced Liverpool in the League Cup final, Barcelona in the Champions League and Newcastle in the FA Cup.
The “Special One” managed to win against both Liverpool and Barcelona, while crashing out of the FA Cup against Newcastle. Mourinho, however, felt he had thrown that game away as he was focused on defeating the two European giants. Now the manager of Manchester United, he is keen to not repeat the same mistake again.
The heart of the matter
The Red Devils travel to Blackburn Rovers’ Ewood Park on Sunday and Mourinho is of the feeling that foreign coaches may have difficulty in understanding the culture of the FA Cup, which he learned the hard way with his side’s defeat to Newcastle in 2005.
Also read: 5 reasons why Manchester United can win the Europa League this season
The Portuguese manager further explained that upsets in the FA Cup usually occur due to attitude problems where teams think the fixtures are going to be easy. However, that is not the case as the lower league teams are constantly improving while Premier League teams are having to rest their players due to fixture overloads.
What’s next?
The Manchester United manager reassured the club’s fans saying that the team would be going to Ewood Park, looking for a win. Mourinho also added that he liked the FA Cup and wanted to win the second FA Cup of his career at Wembley this year.
The Portuguese hinted at a few changes in the playing XI and insisted he would be going with a competitive team as the level of expectations at Manchester United demanded that every game be taken seriously.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The trend of high-profile upsets in the FA Cup has continued this season with Burnley losing to non-league Lincoln Town on Saturday and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool losing to Wolves from the second division. Jose Mourinho would be keen to avoid another upset as Manchester United look to defend the FA Cup and chase a record 13th Cup win.
Mourinho should rest a couple of his star players but should not take Blackburn Rovers lightly as they are capable of producing an upset on their day.
