Jose Mourinho says struggling Manchester United “will succeed sooner or later” as the Fenerbahce boss prepares to take on his former club in the Europa League on Thursday.

United manager Erik ten Hag is under pressure after a poor start to the season, which has included draws in their first two European matches — against Twente and Porto.

But Mourinho, who has also managed a string of other high-profile clubs including Chelsea, Real Madrid and Tottenham, said United had potential and he wants them to succeed.

“Maybe you English guys think I’m bluffing, think I am playing mind games,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “I’m not playing anything — they have a better team than the results are showing.

“I studied them the maximum I could with my staff and my analysts. We watched everything in the Premier League, we watched everything in the two matches, Twente and Porto — there is work there.

“They will succeed sooner or later. Hopefully sooner and hopefully before one day I go back to the Premier League and they become my opponents.

“At this moment they are just my opponents for one match.”

‘I wish them the best’

Mourinho, who managed United between 2016 and 2018, winning the League Cup and Europa League, was asked why his former club had struggled over the past decade.

“Honestly, I didn’t lose one minute thinking about it,” he said. “I wish the best to Man Utd since the moment I left.

“I left with a good feeling for the club, with a good feeling for the fans and I want the best for them, so if things are not going amazingly well for them it’s not something that makes me happy, but at the same time I have no time.”

The 61-year-old suggested that during his own reign at Old Trafford, the United hierarchy had not had the same patience they were showing towards Ten Hag.

“What happened for sure, because it’s very objective, is that they kept faith with the coach, they support the coach, who is staying season after season and that means stability, means trust and they are giving him conditions to keep developing his job,” he said.

“That was a difference in relation to me because as you know we won the Europa League, we finished second in the Premier League.”

Mourinho, who was named as the new Fenerbahce coach in June following his sacking by Roma, said United would be at “maximum strength” for the match in Istanbul.

“One thing are the results that Manchester United are having and another thing is the potential of the team,” he said. “The potential of the team is high.”

He added: “If I have to say now which are the two biggest candidates to win the Europa League, I think it’s easy — Manchester United and Tottenham.

“The Premier League is a different level of quality, intensity, pace, tactical culture — a different level of everything.

“Tomorrow, I think we are going to play against one of the two strongest teams.”

-AFP

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his side’s defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday was “an accident waiting to happen” after William Saliba was sent off in the first half.

Bournemouth won 2-0 thanks to goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert after Saliba was shown a red card for a challenge on Evanilson after 30 minutes as Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the campaign.

It is the third time this season Arsenal have been forced to finish a match with 10 players, leaving Arteta frustrated that his side’s lack of discipline cost them points.

“We are obviously very disappointed with the result and gutted because we have to play again in that context,” he said. “This time was even more difficult than the previous two we faced this season.

“Playing for 65 or 68 minutes with 10 men at this level is just an impossible task. It’s an accident waiting to happen, not to get the points.

“I cannot fault the team for their effort, their commitment, how intelligent they are to play in the way that we have to do it.”

Declan Rice was sent off in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at home to Brighton earlier in the season, while Leandro Trossard was also shown red in the 2-2 draw against title rivals Manchester City.

Arsenal host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday.

-ESPN

Joe Aribo scored a goal for Southampton on Saturday,but it was not enough to curb the club’s miserable run as they succumbed to a last-minute defeat by Leicester who snatched victory by 3-2.

Leicester scored three second-half goals to come from behind and stun 10-player Southampton, denying them a first Premier League win of the season.

The result means Saints have set a club record for the longest winless run in their entire top-flight history, having failed to emerge victorious from any of their last 21 Premier League encounters.

Inside five minutes, Joe Aribo had crashed a header onto the crossbar and inside seven minutes, the hosts had taken the lead. Kyle Walker-Peters led the charge after a quick free-kick and dropped the ball off to Ryan Manning, who squared for Cameron Archer to coolly slot in and send a wave of both relief and belief around St Mary’s.