Opinion: Mourinho's In The March Zone

Jose Mourinho and his Manchester United players have got that familiar business end of the season bit between their teeth.

The clocks haven’t gone forward just yet, and there has been barely a hint of spring in the weather, but it’s that time of year when the contenders are on it. And United are certainly on it.

In Sir Alex Ferguson’s glory years, March was always the month when the Reds would generally kick on and send out the message to rivals that the scent of success was in the nostrils. More often than not, putting on the afterburners as spring arrived obliterated the hopefuls.

With cork-popping, pyrotechnics, ticker tape, medals and silverware on the horizon United would go into overdrive. The Reds would burst from winter with a show of strength.

Mourinho, too, was generally replicating the blueprint wherever he was. At Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid the United boss would be readying himself for the push. It has started again.

It began a tad earlier this time in February with the comeback 2-1 Old Trafford win against champions Chelsea. The win over Antonio Conte’s side had all the hallmarks of heralding in these critical last months of the campaign.

It may have been a tough hour at Selhurst Park last Monday night but wiping out Crystal Palace’s 2-0 lead to dramatically snatching victory with Nemanja Matic’s late stunner was United all over. But the best was kept for Saturday lunchtime as Liverpool and their revered attack were shown the door! Mourinho's men were sensational and Old Trafford responded. Jurgen Klopp’s side had no answer.

It was the start of one of those ‘spring’ weeks where it is all pretty much do-or-die. Living on the edge of your seats time.

After the overwhelming booster of the Liverpool 2-1 win and the nature of that sizzling first 45 minutes, in particular, United are now in perfect go-for-it mode with two knockout matches up next.

On Tuesday night, Sevilla come to Old Trafford for the Round-of-16 second leg match in the Champions League. After a goalless stalemate in the first leg in Spain, it’s all down to Tuesday. Not quite ‘winner takes all’ as Sevilla can go through to the quarter-finals with a score draw but it is an adrenaline kind of night that United are in the mood for.

Being in the UEFA draw on Friday for the last eight would be the perfect stimulant for the next stage of this high-octane week. A place at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals is on offer on Saturday night when Brighton visit in the quarter-finals.

It’s as good as it gets at this stage of the season. And the manager appears that he’s in the zone.

He pulled off two selection masterstrokes for the big one against Liverpool. Choosing two players who hadn’t started a Premier League game in months was bold and daring. But fortune favours the brave and Marcus Rashford and Eric Bailly were two of the standout heroes of the win.

Two-goal Rashford was ravenous and Bailly was a beast, with the only blemish being the Ivorian’s own goal. The rest of it was classic ‘though shalt not pass’ defending.

The devastation and the destruction from that pair was the core of victory. Sevilla and Brighton’s spies know they are walking into a bear pit.

The opinions expressed in this article are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Manchester United.

Credit: Manutd.com