OPINION
Paul Merson already looks foolish regarding his remarks on Newcastle United’s upcoming clash with Manchester United due to the remarks of Jose Mourinho.
The Sky Sports pundit in his prediction for Saturday’s meeting between the two sides, claimed that if Man United could hand pick any team to play this weekend they would choose the Magpies.
“If Manchester United could hand pick any team to play this weekend it would be Newcastle,” wrote Merson for Sky Sports.
“Forget Cardiff or Huddersfield it would be Newcastle because they can’t score a goal.
“They don’t even look like scoring a goal. On the flip side, if United don’t win this game there’ll be major trouble at Old Trafford.
“Newcastle will go there for a 0-0 but United will eventually break them down.”
While the Magpies are struggling at the moment, due to their form in front of goal, Merson now has egg on his face following the remarks after Mourinho delivered his verdict on the match.
The Man United manager shared that his side were expecting a difficult game when they host Rafa Benitez’s side at Old Trafford and heaped praise on the Spanish manager.
“They have a very, very, very good coach a team that is always very well organised against especially the teams of the first part of the table where their manager is very bright on his analysis of the opponent’s qualities and to try to stop them,” said Mourinho in his press conference, as quoted by The Chronicle.
“The results they had against the top teams didn’t get them points yet this season, but gave them very, very close results and very difficult matches for the opposition.
“So we expect a difficult match.”
The under-pressure Portuguese manager may agree with Merson’s assessment of the Magpies’ current attacking threat however it’s clear that he wouldn’t choose to play Benitez’s side ahead of anyone, as it’s a difficult game.
While the Magpies boss’ tactics may have not racked up the points, by adapting a defensive style when playing the so-called big sides in the league, he frustrates and forces them to play to their best to get any sort of a positive result.
Given that Mourinho is no doubt aware that his side are struggling all over the shop then clearly his remarks show that he doesn’t want to play a side who purposely try to make life difficult for his team.
This all means that Merson already looks foolish with his claim about Newcastle ahead of their clash against Manchester United and hopefully the Magpies can make him even more wrong by achieving a positive result.
