Jose's five-point preview - AFC Bournemouth

Less than three days after our home win over Everton, it’s back to business this evening (Thursday) as we travel to face an AFC Bournemouth side battling to avoid the drop, kick-off 6pm. Here’s what Jose Mourinho has had to say ahead of the game...

1 – Attitude

We managed a victory and a clean sheet against Everton on Monday – what is Jose looking for at Bournemouth?

Jose: “A win! Going back a couple of days ago, I told you that we couldn’t promise results, but we could promise a certain attitude. I was not wrong. My desire is, again, we’re not in control of results and the unpredictability of football doesn’t give us the power to say we are going to win, but I want to see the same kind of attitude.”

2 – Focus

The north London derby is looming, and a subject never far away in Jose’s press conferences this week, but his sole concentration is Bournemouth...

Jose: “At this moment, we are seven, eight, ninth in the table and the distance in points between the team that is in front of us and behind us is one point, Any result, any point, is very important. The Arsenal game is not the next one, the next one is Bournemouth, and if it’s an important game for us, imagine what it is for them.”

3 – Bournemouth

It’s no secret that Bournemouth are struggling, what is Jose expecting from Eddie Howe’s men tonight?

Jose: “I expect to find a team that knows these five matches are going to decide if they are relegated or if they stay in the Premier League, and that’s a big thing in players’ lives, in managers’ lives and in the club for the next few years. They are going to be playing with everything they have and it’s going to be a very difficult match.”

4 – Dangerous games?

It’s often said that a match against a team fighting for survival is as big a test as one against a team fighting for the title – what did Jose think?

Jose: “I don’t call them ‘dangerous’ games, because I never think they are easy. In my mind, it’s always difficult. If I lose these matches, I’m not surprised. I’m never surprised by certain teams, that’s why I don’t like to look at the table and say ‘this team is 18th or 19th’, I just look to the quality and the experiences I had against the same team before. They are a difficult team and it’s a difficult match, added to by the crucial moment for them.”

5 – Sonny

It was Heung-Min Son’s birthday when we sat down with Jose on Wednesday – what has the Head Coach made of the South Korean star in his eight months at the Club?

Jose: “He’s the player that everyone knows he is, and the kid you know he is, and everyone close to him knows who the kid is. I expect today (Wednesday) another fight with Hugo! And after that, a big hug, a collective one where the dressing room shows him what they feel – everybody loves him.”