It’s been a tough start to life at Manchester United for Jose Mourinho.
The Red Devils sit in the rather underwhelming position of sixth and were left utterly frustrated by their failure to overcome Arsenal. Despite conceding just one shot on target, United faltered to a 1-1 draw.
Nevertheless, the Special One received a phone call from a very famous football friend after the match. To be fair to the Portuguese, he was talking to a man that knows a fair bit about the beautiful game.
The man in question? Diego Maradona.
The Argentinian is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to grace the sport and is regularly mentioned alongside the likes of Pele and Johan Cruyff.
The 56-year-old captained Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986 and a further final four years later. In the colours of his nation, he racked up an impressive 34 goals from attacking midfield in 91 caps.
Moreover, he rose to the status of a god at Napoli, where he plied his trade for seven years, and also donned the Barcelona jersey.
Aside from his incredibly illustrious career, though, it appears Maradona may still be passing on his knowledge and experiences. After all, he decided to ring Mourinho after United’s game this weekend.
As per the Special One’s Instagram, the United boss spoke on the phone to who he labels ‘King Diego’ before passing on his thanks. Alongside the caption is a picture of the pair embracing at a past awards dinner.
The full post can be seen below:
There’s a lot of silverware and football history in that post, without doubt.
Nevertheless, it remains unknown as to why Maradona made the call. Perhaps tactical advice, fellow frustration at Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser or, most likely, just a good old chit chat.
Whatever the nature of the conversation, though, speaking to some legends of the game certainly won’t do Mourinho any harm.
Although his Old Trafford tenure has been far from disastrous, he still has a long way to go to make the Red Devils a top four side.
The fact Arsenal were able to claw their way back into the game robbed Mourinho of a potential return to form. That being said, what he referred to as a ‘good performance, but a bad result’ today did show great promise.
Given Anthony Martial’s performance, however, Mourinho might be better calling Maradona back with a one-year contract in tow.