There are two stadiums in the Premier League where Jose Mourinho loves to impose his will more than anywhere else: Anfield and Stamford Bridge.
Last night he left Liverpool supporters frustrated and disappointed when his Manchester United side strangled the threat out of Jurgen Klopp’s freescoring team in a 0-0 draw on Merseyside.
Mourinho’s next stop is SW6 on Sunday. On last night’s evidence Antonio Conte’s Chelsea need to be ready for a war of attrition.
Right from the start at Anfield, United disrupted Liverpool’s rhythm. Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini dominated the centre of midfield, with the Basque making life miserable for Philippe Coutinho. United do not play the full-on pressing game favoured by Klopp but the away team closed their rivals down cleverly whenever the situation demanded. They hustled Liverpool intelligently while conserving energy.
“The game was very hectic,” said Klopp. “Maybe it was what United wanted.”
It was precisely what Mourinho demanded. It led to an almost chanceless first half where goalmouth action was confined to a Marcus Rashford cross that Loris Karius pushed away and an insipid header from Roberto Firmino.
Mourinho’s teams are sometimes criticised for negativity but he always has one eye on shocking his opponents. When he does park the bus he leaves the engine running and in gear with a view to conducting a surprise ram-raid.
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The opportunity came after 55 minutes when Paul Pogba saw that Zlatan Ibrahimovic had lost his marker on the edge of the six-yard box at the far post. Pogba’s cross looked perfectly placed for the Swede to score but the United striker made a huge hash of his header.
It was the low point of a poor game for Ibrahimovic but Mourinho shrugged off the miss. “It was a great chance,” the United manager admitted. “But he will score in one of the next games, so no problem.”
Conte’s three centre-backs might shiver at that prospect. Liverpool had the best of the last 35 minutes as Herrera tired and Adam Lallana’s introduction as substitute gave the home side fresh impetus but they never did enough to justify taking all three points.
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Emre Can, who struggled all night, had one bustling run in the area that ended with a David De Gea save and he made a spectacular diving stop from Coutinho’s 25-yard shot. The home side’s best chance came late on when the Brazilian playmaker released Firmino but Antonio Valencia made a last-ditch saving tackle.
“We controlled the game tactically, we controlled it emotionally,” Mourinho said with some justification.
Cynics might say that the claims of dominance were undermined because Manchester United had only 35 per cent of possession. The Portuguese had an answer for that, too. “They had two shots with 65 per cent possession. That is their problem not our problem.”
The Jose show now rolls south to west London. Mourinho is not the same man who wowed Chelsea 12 years ago with a twinkle in his eye and a quip for the audience. He looks jaded, joyless and drained compared to the Special One of the mid-2000s. Yet the 53-year-old has one thing in common with his vivacious younger self: a driven desperation to put one over on his enemies.
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Last night he silenced a jeering Kop and showed Klopp and Liverpool he is still no pushover. At Stamford Bridge, where he exited not once but twice, he will be doubly hell bent on making life difficult for Chelsea and their manager.
Conte has a reputation for being a brilliant tactician but he will need all his strategic nous against United. As he showed last night, Mourinho can still out-think and outmanoeuvre opponents. Even when his team have little chance of outplaying them.
