It’s amazing what a difference a few wins can make

Just a few short months ago, Jose Mourinho was getting sent off for kicking water bottles and replicating the misery of the David Moyes era at Manchester United. He was feeling confined in his luxury hotel room as his uncharacteristic inability to get results, which began the year before at Chelsea, sapped him of his vibrancy.

But now it’s 2017 and Man United have turned things around. They’ve won nine matches in a row and they’ve gone unbeaten in their last 15. Mourinho’s sense of humor appears to have returned with this vindication, as evidenced by his decision to answer the phone of a journalist when it rang during his Friday press conference.

Three months ago, Mourinho likely would have smashed the offending device with his bare hands while cursing at the assembled reporters in a language of his own creation, but now that some of the pressure has subsided, he can laugh again. And the way things are going, he will soon be able to Arsene Wenger again, too.