Is Jose Mourinho the manager Manchester United needs? That remains one of the major questions currently as we witness the English club play one final time this calendar year on Saturday. Manchester United host Middlesbrough at the Old Trafford in their 19th game of the Premier League 2016/17 season.
The Red Devils witnessed the worst start to their season in 27 years under Mourinho, but slowly and steadily, the Portuguese coach has guided United to a not-so-bad undefeated record in the English league.
United last lost to Chelsea on October 29 in a league game, and since then, they remain undefeated in nine games. A win against Middlesbrough on Saturday will give the Red Devils the first five wins on the trot in this season.
Is Jose Mourinho up for it? Will he play the silent warrior Henrikh Mkhitaryan? Will Zlatan Ibrahimovic continue his stunning form in front of the goal? These are the questions that need to be answered.
Club hotshot Wayne Rooney, for one, won't be available for the match as he is ruled out with a thigh injury. The Red Devils are currently sixth in the table, with 33 points, and even a win on Saturday won't take them to the top four. Nevertheless, the team morale seems to be getting better with time.
"The team spirit I see is just fantastic," Mourinho was quoted by the BBC as saying in the pre-match press briefing. "It is getting better every single day and I think that is showing in the way we are playing, because some of the football we have produced in recent weeks has been very good."
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have to fight hard to get a good result. They are currently 15th in the table, with 18 points from 18 games.
Schedule:
Manchester United vs Middlesbrough is set to start at 8:30 pm IST [3 pm GMT, 10 am EST] on December 31.
Where to watch live:
India: TV - Star Sports Select HD 2. Live streaming - unavailable.
UK: TV - No telecast. Live streaming - MUTV (subscription needed).
USA: TV - NBC Sports Network. Live streaming - NBC Live.
Radio commentary - TalkSport, BBC Radio 5 Live.
Live score - EPL twitter.
