Jose Mourinho explains what to expect from Newcastle United match

Manchester United host Newcastle United at Old Trafford tomorrow evening. The Red Devils will be hoping to head into the international break with a much-needed win under their belts – if only to stop the slump that they’re currently in.

The match itself won’t be easy. Newcastle United will fight and claw for absolutely everything. It’s in their history, it’s what they’ve always done despite the fact that that club is also in a mess.

Speaking before the encounter, Jose Mourinho has echoed those thoughts by saying that he is expecting a tough match. You just know that Rafael Benitez would dearly love to be the one to cost the self-proclaimed Special One his job.

“We expect a difficult match [against Newcastle],” the boss told reporters, including United’s official Twitter. “They are a team that is always very organised and their manager is always very well organised on his analysis of his opponents.”

I get the impression that the United board and owners will be watching this one extremely carefully. For me, it’s not just about the result, the performance matters too.

We need to show the fight, desire and drive that is the bare minimum that should be expected from each and every single United player. If they don’t put that in tomorrow, that would tell me that they’ve stopped playing for the manager and it could well be time to be looking elsewhere.

For now, they have my backing. Let’s get behind them at the Theatre of Dreams tomorrow and roar those lads on to three points.