Jose Mourinho doubles down on hypocrisy with response to Manchester derby tunnel spat
Whatever the symbolic value of their defeat in the Manchester derby, Manchester United’s season will not be defined by one result alone. Jose Mourinho’s men may have been found badly wanting in comparison to their intra-city rivals but – despite trailing City by 11 points in the league – the Red Devils are still in all four competitions and could finish the campaign with a decent haul of silverware. If Mourinho still has plenty of opportunity to preserve his reputation as a winner, however, he’s struggling in the battle over the moral high ground.
The Manchester derby tunnel bust-up is already one of this season’s most talked-about incidents. Were ‘Most Shocking Moments’ DVDs still in fashion it would no doubt end up in the top five. It has all the ingredients of an iconic football controversy: Mourinho having a pint of milk thrown at him, extremely minor bloodshed, players steaming into each other and hapless policeman milling about in the background. Mourinho is alleged to have reacted badly to loud celebrations in the Manchester City dressing room, demanding that the opposition “f**cking show respect” and turn their music down. If that makes him sound like a grouchy octogenarian shouting out of the window at his teenage neighbours, his follow-up comments have made him sound more like an enormous hypocrite.
Blaring loud music from the away dressing room is hardly the most disrespectful form of celebration, it should be said. It is arguably nowhere near as disrespectful as running the length of the touchline while fist pumping, shushing opposition fans or doing victory laps of the pitch with one finger in the air, all of which feature on Mourinho’s long list of antagonisms. For Mourinho to take issue with Manchester City over their post-match playlist is not only comically childish, it is a double standard so profound that it should give us all pause for contemplation. This is the world we live in, where some lads blasting music must take lessons in respect from a man who once gouged a rival manager in the eye.
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Asked about the tunnel fracas ahead of United’s midweek clash with Bournemouth, Mourinho said: “For me it was just a question of diversity – diversity in behaviours and diversity in education. Just that and nothing more than that.” Even with time and perspective on the incident, he has managed to double down on the hypocrisy with even more criticism of City. Whether or not there is any value in attempting to quantify the abstract notion of “respect”, the idea of Mourinho clambering aboard his high horse over behavioural standards is a magnificent absurdity. For a man who has made a career out of aggravating and insulting his rivals, the winding path to the moral high ground is a very slippery slope indeed.
