Not special anymore? Jose Mourinho misses chance to answer critics

It was as much a taunt as a chant, echoing around Old Trafford: “You’re not special anymore.” The first time Jose Mourinho heard that here was when his Inter Milan side exited the Champions League in 2009. Then it was the Manchester United fans indulging in schadenfreude. Seven years later, it was the vocal Arsenal contingent making the noise.

Their bluster looked unwise when Juan Mata stroked United into the lead, rather more justified when Olivier Giroud headed Arsenal level. Then their sentiments were repeated, accompanied by an expletive that probably does not bear repeating.

At 1-0, it was shaping up to be a classic Mourinho game: not especially memorable, but retaining its own significance, maintaining the three great certainties in a world that has been turned on its axis: death, taxes and Mourinho beating Arsene Wenger. The eventual draw meant the Portuguese extended his unbeaten league record against the Frenchman but denied him of a maiden league win against top-six opponents. The gap between them remains six points. An opportunity, ultimately, was missed.

And it is unlike a classic Mourinho side to lose a lead so late on, even one fielding a second-string defence. Two-and-a-half years earlier, a Chelsea back four including an untried Tomas Kalas kept a clean sheet away against title-chasing Liverpool. This seemed a repeat, further proof limited players could become a well-drilled unit in marquee matches. Then Marcus Rashford, almost operating as an auxiliary left-back, was beaten when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sped past him to cross. The hitherto reliable Phil Jones lost his footing and ended up sat on his backside as Giroud climbed unopposed to head home.

And whether or not Mourinho is special, this is different. Now his most reliable ally is the least likely. The man Mourinho sold at Chelsea, the substitute he substituted in the Community Shield, served as his finest finisher again. Mata delivered the EFL Cup winner against Manchester City, three days after the 4-0 thrashing at Chelsea. A similarly assured shot broke the deadlock. Mata is making a habit of scoring the more important goals of Mourinho’s decidedly mixed reign.

Mata may never conform to the idea of a Mourinho player but a pragmatist is finding a way to use a rather productive purist. Paul Pogba delayed his pass so Ander Herrera could burst into space. One Spaniard supplied a cut-back, another a sidefooted shot. It seemed a reward: beneath the charisma and the controversy, Mourinho always boasted one of football’s best analytical brains and, after prospering at Swansea with a slow side, he had surrounded Mata with pace. Exit the banned Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the demoted Wayne Rooney, enter the quicker Rashford and Anthony Martial. The balance seemed better.

But then it was weighted towards defence. Caution is imbued in Mourinho and, in time-honoured fashion, he looked to shore things up. Off went Mata, to a standing ovation. On came Morgan Schneiderlin, another defensive midfielder. Matteo Darmian had already departed, taken off before he could be sent off. Yet while Daley Blind took over at left-back, perhaps the Italian might have halted Oxlade-Chamberlain, possibly in illegal fashion.

Certainly Wenger’s substitutions, and both creator and scorer came off the bench, made more of an impact than Mourinho’s. The United crowd had just started to sing their manager’s name when Giroud delivered the sucker punch. And so, rather than having the chance to gloat over Wenger, the abiding image of Mourinho was him erupting in paroxysm of fury, gesturing in melodramatic disbelief as Andre Marriner denied United a penalty when a despairing Nacho Monreal’s arm caught a falling Antonio Valencia.

Mourinho had been sent to the stands against Burnley for protesting against a similar refusal to award what probably wasn’t a spot kick. Once again, he looked a man who felt the world is conspiring against him. This might have been Mourinho’s first genuinely special result at Old Trafford and while it was not the chastening defeat to prove his glory years are at an end, nor did it indicate he retains his aura.