Jose Mourinho takes charge of his first FA Cup tie as our Head Coach when we travel to Teeside to take on Middlesbrough on Sunday (2.01pm).
Here is his regular five-point preview ahead of the third round tie at the Riverside.
1 – Harry
The obvious starting point to this preview was an update on Harry Kane’s hamstring injury – here was Jose’s answer just after training on Friday afternoon…
Jose: “The latest are just my feelings, not the results of scanning and the investigation the medical department is doing this morning (Friday) and will continue doing this afternoon, my feelings are… not good news. My feelings are we’re going to lose him for some time.”
2 – The FA Cup
Jose has won the lot in his managerial career, so where did the FA Cup feature in his footballing heart?
Jose: “The FA Cup Final is one of the matches I remember as a kid because, as you can imagine, in the 1960s, early 1970s in Portugal, there weren’t many live matches on TV and I remember the FA Cup was one of the matches where myself, my dad, friends, we waited with great enthusiasm for that iconic, historical match. Then, when I had the chance to come to England and play it, the feeling is amazing. I think every team, every player, every coach, every supporter dreams about it. So, while it’s possible, let’s dream about it.”
3 – Dreams come true…
With that answer in mind, what was it like to go from a young boy watching the FA Cup Final in Portugal to actually leading your team out and winning it in 2007?
Jose: “It’s one of the moments where when you do it as a professional, you realise that your dreams come true. It’s fantastic and I have those matches in my memory, of course I was lucky enough to win it and I like to have the hope of doing it again. I know we’re in the third round, I know it’s a long, long way to be there but it’s something that when you are in competition, you have the same chances as everyone in the competition to win it and you must give everything with a passion that I think that competition demands.”
4 – Woody and Keano
This match means that little more to us because of Middlesbrough’s management team – Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Keane. Woody played for us between 2008-2011 and scored the winner in the 2008 League Cup Final, Keano scored 122 goals in 306 games for us between 2002-2011. Did Jose know both or either of them?
Jose: “No, not Woodgate, we shook hands a couple of times, but no relationship. With Robbie, more than that. We’ve played some matches, testimonials, charity matches and with Robbie I have a friendship. All respect to them. But in my experience, when you play against your former clubs, if you can win it, you win it and you don’t think twice.”
5 – Middlesbrough
We meet Boro on the back of their best run this season – four wins on the trot over Christmas and New Year. What did Jose expect from the Teeside team on Sunday?
Jose: “They’ve won four in a row, two of them away, one goal conceded in four matches and the last two matches away, one of them was at West Brom, the leaders. This morning (Friday), they just made official two new players (Patrick Roberts and Lukas Nmecha on loan), one striker, one creative player, so I think they will come with everything, and everything also means the passion that the FA Cup demands and when you don’t play with that passion, you are already losing. It’s very important for us to match the mentality they are going to bring.”
