LONDON: Jose Mourinho insists he won’t regard Manchester United’s season as a failure even if they lose against Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Mourinho’s side have one last chance to finish the campaign with silverware when they face their manager’s former club in a heavyweight Wembley showdown.
United finished second in the Premier League, trailing 19 points behind champions Manchester City, and suffered embarrassing exits from the Champions League and League Cup against Sevilla and Bristol City.
After winning the Europa League and League Cup last term — when they finished sixth in the Premier League — critics claim United have failed to make enough progress this season.
Losing to Chelsea would be a big blow to Mourinho, but he has no intention of letting the result define United’s season.
“You can analyze the way you want and I can analyze the way I want,” Mourinho said.
“Of course it makes a difference, but making a difference isn’t to consider whether the season is good or bad from one match.
“When I analyze the work I do, the effort I put, and everything we did in the club, I’m not going to analyze the players because of one, of course very important, match.
“I know what my players did. I know the effort they gave. The positive things, the negative things.
“I’m not going to change my opinion on one match, not at all.”
Mourinho has been slammed for adopting overly cautious tactics in several big games as United were often made to look ponderous in comparison to stylish City’s commitment to attack.
Some fear Mourinho — aiming to win the Cup for the first time since Chelsea beat United in a dull 2007 final — will adopt a conservative approach at Wembley again rather than go on the offensive.
Asked if he felt a duty to ensure the Cup final was a memorable affair for the watching world, the 55-year-old admitted he had a different view than many on what can be considered an entertaining match.
“I don’t understand these words, do you think 6-0 is entertaining? I don’t think so,” Mourinho said.
“I think entertaining is emotion until the end, the game open, everyone on the edge of their seats, both dug-outs nervous and tense with the result in doubt.
“For a football lover that is entertaining for me. I think it will be entertaining tomorrow.”
Mourinho has won 12 of his 14 cup finals with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and United.
His only defeats came in the Portuguese Cup against Benfica and the Copa del Rey against Atletico Madrid.
In contrast, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has yet to win a domestic cup after losing last season’s FA Cup final against Arsenal.
But Mourinho doesn’t believe that will be a factor this weekend.
“The winning mentality doesn’t have to do with record or history in finals,” he said.
“Honestly, I think what we did in the past has nothing to do with tomorrow.
“The records don’t play tomorrow. It’s 11 against 11.”
The FA Cup will be presented to the winning captain by the wife of former Chelsea and United star Ray Wilkins, who died aged 61 after suffering a cardiac arrest last month.
“It will be a very emotional moment for Mrs.Wilkins, for all the family,” Mourinho added.
“I believe that Ray will be looking at it and will be enjoying it.
“I know how much he was loved at Chelsea, I know how much he is loved at Manchester United.
“I think it would be a moment that would unite the stadium, the fans of both colors, a beautiful moment.”
Mourinho: Manchester United’s season a success even if we lose FA Cup final to Chelsea
Mourinho: Manchester United’s season a success even if we lose FA Cup final to Chelsea
- United finished second in the Premier League, but a 19 points behind arch-rivals City.
- Mourinho's side face Chelsea at Wembley with both managers under fire.
FIFA announces $60 World Cup tickets after pricing backlash
PARIS: World Cup organizers unveiled a new cut-price ticket category on Tuesday after a backlash by fans over pricing for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Football’s global governing body FIFA said in a statement that it had created a limited number of “Supporter Entry Tier” fixed at $60 for all 104 matches, including the final.
It said the plan was “designed to further support traveling fans following their national teams across the tournament.”
FIFA said that the $60 tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10 percent of each national federation’s allotment.
Fan group Football Supporters Europe , which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical,” responded by saying the FIFA was offering too little.
“While we welcome FIFA’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” FSE said in a statement on Tuesday.
Last week, FSE said ticket prices were almost five times higher than in 2022 in Qatar, describing FIFA’s pricing for 2026 as a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup.”
“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final it would cost them a minimum of $6,900,” it said at the time, adding that World Cup organizers had promised tickets priced from $21 in a bid document released in 2018.
‘Appeasement tactic’
On Tuesday, FSE said FIFA’s partial ticketing U-turn exposed flaws in how prices for next year’s tournament had been set.
“For the moment we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” FSE said.
“This shows that FIFA’s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush, and without proper consultation — including with FIFA’s own member associations.
“Based on the allocations publicly available, this would mean that at best a few hundred fans per match and team would be lucky enough to take advantage of the 60 US dollar prices, while the vast majority would still have to pay extortionate prices, way higher than at any tournament before.”
The organization also criticized the failure to make provisions for supporters with disabilities or their companions.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed FSE, stating that FIFA’s cheaper ticket category did not go far enough.
“I welcome FIFA’s announcement of some lower priced supporters tickets,” Starmer wrote on X.
“But as someone who used to save up for England tickets, I encourage FIFA to do more to make tickets more affordable so that the World Cup doesn’t lose touch with the genuine supporters who make the game so special.”
Announcing the $60 tickets on Tuesday, FIFA said that national federations “are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams.”
FIFA also said that if fans bought tickets for games in the knockout rounds only to find their team eliminated at an earlier stage, they “will have the administrative fee waived when refunds are processed.”
It added that it was making the announcement “amid extraordinary global demand for tickets” with 20 million requests already submitted.
The draw for tickets of all prices in the first round of sales will take place on Tuesday, January 13.
