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Even in the tumultuous world of Manchester United, the 36 hours between 8:00 am BST on Friday and 8:00 pm on Saturday were almost unbelievable.
The director, Jose Mourinho, went from monotonous and devious to anger, directly at the center of a whirlwind of rumors, speculations and denials, and came out victorious and justified on the other side.
The remaining time, considering the next meetings between the international teams, includes visits to Chelsea and Manchester City, as well as consecutive meetings of Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus in the Champions League, is open to debate.
But for the moment, Mourinho seems to have turned a sorry Friday into a great Saturday.
The stench of defeat on Friday morning
No official explanation was given as to why Mourinho decided to hold Friday's pre-game press conference before facing Newcastle at 08:00 BST.
Later in the day, a rumor began to circulate that he would have done so because he had to make a trip to London where he was going to meet United Executive Vice President, Ed Woodward, with his agent Jorge Mendes.
It turned out that the rumor was false. Mourinho stayed in Manchester.
Whatever the reasoning of his first meeting with the media, his mood was not positive.
When asked two questions about why his team was underperforming after four days without a win, the combined answers totaled four words. When asked if the race was good enough, he reduced it to three.
And, when asked if United's fans could be assured that he was working hard to right the situation, he looked straight ahead without saying anything.
There was a stench of defeat over the past three and a half minutes.
Troubled 'come on that wants & # 39;
When the press announced Friday that Mourinho was to be sacked over the weekend, regardless of the match result in Newcastle, only the timing was a surprise.
Although United has consistently indicated its preference to stay with the 55-year-old player privately, many sources have described the atmosphere around the club as "toxic".
Former Red Devils captain Gary Neville has filled the void created by Old Trafford's lack of immediate response. The latter, describing his remarks as "if the story is true", then realized that his former club was "rotten". the base "and blame Executive Vice President Woodward outright.
Others, who have longstanding associations with United, were stunned to see how the club seemed to sink into confusion.
It is only early Saturday that the robust denials have been filtered, returning the newspaper's comments to announce that no matter what happened against Newcastle, Mourinho will not be ejected.
Singing his name Saturday
A bit like two brothers who constantly bicker in private but defend each other to death, United fans traditionally react to the crisis by adopting a siege mentality.
In a pub located in the shadow of Sir Bobby Charlton's stand, beer songs constantly disappear three hours before the kickoff. I waited there for 15 minutes and after hearing Anthony Martial, Robin van Persie, Georgie Best and Eric Cantona, among other songs, I heard the name of Mourinho sing.
It was anticipated that this would set the tone for the evening – but Newcastle had other ideas.
Their fast start has shaken Old Trafford, the Magpies took the lead 2-0 at the break. The response from the stands was sporadic, until the return of United in the second half changes all that.
As Alexis Sanchez moved away to celebrate his winner in the 90th minute, the name Mourinho was sung once again. Loudly. Through all the stage. He could not have missed that.
Woodward, executive vice president, could not hold the position of director above the manager's technical area either.
It's Woodward who should do his best if Mourinho's term as manager were to end.
Mourinho in the rough, hitting each ball
Unlike recent games, when he looked helpless and disconnected, it was impossible to ignore Mourinho's behavior on the sidelines.
With two goals behind, he has become almost maniacal – perhaps not the Manchester City maniac Pep Guardiola, but, for him, extremely expressive.
By observing his behavior – hugging Eric Bailly after replacing the Ivorian after 18 minutes, waving, urging, complaining – it was impossible to know earlier in the day that he had received a text from the hierarchy American asking him to ignore all the speculation. around him.
Double hand pump to celebrate the equalization of Anthony Martial, a hand struck when the French failed to get back, as it was requested afterwards. It was Mourinho in the rough, hitting each ball.
His reaction to the winner of Sanchez was underestimated. He needed to shout to Nemanja Matic to come in and get instructions on how to navigate within five minutes of the injury. It was an emotion and a message at every turn.
At the final whistle, Mourinho headed for the tunnel, stopping briefly to shake the hand of his rival, Rafael Benitez, before taking the applause of fans, fists clenched and defeated, occasional waves, occasional applause.
"It's not about me – it's about the football club that fans love – in a game that was very important to us, it was absolutely amazing to win."
Can not draw a fact from fiction
So much has been written about Mourinho and his players in recent days, it is impossible to separate facts from fiction.
Paul Pogba, Martial and Sanchez have been identified as three of the players who have major problems with their manager.
Pogba was notable, especially in the second half, when he played so deeply that one reporter mentioned it in a post – match question as being part of the game. a team of three.
Martial terrorized the Newcastle defense after half-time, trailing over United with a brilliant exchange with Pogba.
And Sanchez, the man at £ 400,000 a week, whose performances were at the height of his expectations, began the game on the bench and was the last substitute used by Mourinho.
Have these performances been profitable for the man they dropped? Were they for fans who help pay their salaries? Was there a sense of personal pride?
Again, it is impossible to know the answer.
Mourinho – and United – can not be grateful to them.
He said, "I'm going to London tonight, it's raining in London tomorrow, it's my fault." There is a problem with Brexit, it's about my fault."
What is happening now?
It would be easy to say that the pressure on Mourinho is appeased but that is not quite the case.
Specifically, he now has a little time to breathe.
He has an international break of two weeks to gather his ideas and develop a plan for an even more trying period than the one just passed.
He faces a three-week period that begins with a visit to Chelsea and an Old Trafford encounter with Juventus, and ends with the return to Turin and a derby in Manchester at Etihad Stadium in City.
If the results go wrong, the heat will return, increased even more than before.
If they are well, the status of Mourinho will be strengthened, highlighting why, as he later pointed out, United agreed to a contract extension in January without a firearm.
This does not mean he expects it to give him a break from the personal criticisms he tends to face.
So what would stop the "hunt for the man" to which he referred in a post-match television interview.
"Nothing" was the short answer.
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