Jose Mourinho appeared to be in the rarest of good moods as he faced the press on Friday ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Watford this Saturday.
That said, he did start with a five-minute diatribe about Marcus Rashford that came perilously close to veering into a Rafa Benitez/Facts pastiche.
However, a mischievous grin did return to Mourinho’s face when he was asked about his little whoopsie-daisy at Wembley last weekend, when he went buttock-over-jowl while clambering over a rope outside the hospitality suites.
Jose Mourinho's fall from grace…pic.twitter.com/29qkU0bdo6#mufc #josemourinho
— 138 Ghana (@138ghana) 11 September 2018
Tongue lodged firmly in cheek, the United boss attempted to claim that he tripped entirely on purpose in order to give the press something else to write about…
Classic Jose! 😂 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/ZfPl653Kq1
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) 14 September 2018
Mourinho replied:
Some people called me and asked me to fall at Wembley because they need news for me. So it did it on purpose.
It was a good dive! I protected my phones. It was good… no penalty, maybe a yellow card.
He can be a surly sod a lot of the time, but it’s nice to see that Jose still has the propensity to amuse with a glint in his eye when he wants.
Just like the olden days.