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MANCHESTER – Most clubs would be delighted to be sitting second in the English Premier League, into the FA Cup quarter-finals and on the verge of a return to the last eight of the Champions League soccer.

However, Jose Mourinho is learning of the exacting demands of being Manchester United manager with incessant questions over not just results, but the manner in which they are obtained.

“If people don’t think we deserved it, I don’t care,” Mourinho said after United defeated rivals Liverpool 2-1 on Saturday despite enjoying just 32 percent possession. The problem for Mourinho is not just United’s tradition for winning while playing on the front foot under great European Cup-winning managers Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson, but that United are no longer even the best team in Manchester.

Manchester City enjoy a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand.

Moreover, the attractive style implemented by long-time adversary Pep Guardiola is far more in keeping with what United fans are used to seeing than the fare offered up by Mourinho’s tactics. Chelsea fans serenaded their former boss with chants of “just like London, your city is blue” on their visit to Old Trafford last month. – AFP.