The ‘special’ demand: Jose Mourinho reportedly wants Manchester United vs Chelsea postponed

New Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is supposedly worried about his side’s fixture against his former club Chelsea, as it will be soon after a Europa League match. Mourinho believes his team may not have enough time to recover for a match that will be crucial for him, according to a report by  Daily Star .  United has a Europa match scheduled on 20 October and the clash against Chelsea is likely to be on 22 October. However, the report continues that they will have to play their league rivals in spite of Mourinho’s worry. [caption id=“attachment_2875192” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Jose Mourinho. AFP[/caption] The Red Devils failed to qualify for Champions League after finishing fifth in EPL last season under Louis Van Gaal, and are set to play Europa League again this season. United played their first pre-season game in Mourinho’s reign on Saturday against Wigan, which they won 2-0. Mourinho believes that a recovery process shorter than three days will take a toll on his players and wants the match to be postponed to 24 October, Monday, says the  Daily Star report. But his request doesn’t look viable with the fourth round of the League Cup scheduled on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. This has led to Mourinho longing for a formal postponement. However, the chances of United making this request are grim as the Premier League will not be interested in making this unprecedented move. The ‘Special One’ has had two stints at Stamford Bridge with reasonable success. His first tenure with the club was between 2004 to 2007 before leaving it by ‘mutual consent’. His second tenure in 2014 saw Chelsea win the Premier League. However, the Portuguese was sacked in December 2015 due to the club’s poor showing. Not finishing in the top four in the Premier League comes with the price of playing Europa League. His best hope is to make sure that United don’t face the situation necessitating Thursday night matches again by returning to Champions League.