Mourinho Surprises Young Reds

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho recently took time out from his busy schedule to turn his hand to a Portuguese ambassador role.

Some of the club's U14 and U15 players are off to play in a celebratory match on Saturday against top Portuguese academy side S.L. Benfica and the boss was keen to offer them some encouragement before they departed.

“As part of our preparation for foreign tours we like to teach our young players a little about the culture and language of the country they are visiting,” explained Head of Academy Nicky Butt, and that’s where the first-team manager was able to help.

Jose made an impromptu classroom visit to the group at the Aon Training Complex as they prepared for their upcoming trip and was able to give first-hand information and advice to the young squad. He had the boys mesmerised as he spoke about Portuguese culture and the language and he was also able to give the players pointers as to the competitive approach of their Benfica counterparts.

Tour leader Les Parry was full of praise for the manager’s input, saying: "He was brilliant, he came in and spoke to the boys like adults, answering some really well thought-out questions. The boys didn’t know he was going to come in so to see their faces when he walked through the door was wonderful. The most pleasing thing was the length of time he spoke to the players for, he didn’t come in just to show his face, he gave the boys quality time and quality information. I think the staff were just as in awe of him as the players were!"

Butt is planning to ensure events like this will soon be commonplace within the Academy. First-team stars Juan Mata and Ander Herrera recently made visits prior to some Academy Spanish tours, with both proving to be excellent language teachers for the boys!

Butt has now settled into his new job heading up the development of one of the world’s most productive Academies and is relishing the challenge. The former midfielder has a focused vision about how he sees the academy developing, saying: “It’s important that we give the boys the Manchester United experience and make our academy different and better than any other in the world. We want to provide a programme that includes the boys feeling part of the Manchester United family and the manager’s involvement is instrumental and goes a long way to producing that."