Saturday 1 October 2016 07:47, UK
Jose Mourinho is expecting a "surprise behind the door" as the Manchester United manager utilises his squad during a testing run of October fixtures.
Life since succeeding Louis van Gaal has already had its peaks and troughs, with Community Shield glory and three successive wins followed by a run of three straight losses in all competitions.
United play Stoke City at Old Trafford on Sunday, a game they go into six points off Premier League leaders Manchester City but buoyed by a 4-1 win over Leicester in their most recent domestic fixture.
They also play Fenerbahce in October, with that match wedged in-between trips to Liverpool and Chelsea, with an EFL Cup tie against City and a league tie at Burnley completing a busy October in which Mourinho is confident he will learn a lot about his squad.
"You know, I need time," he said. "I need the players to play, I need to see them in different circumstances. I need to understand more about them.
"There is so much to learn about the players that only when you work with them a long, long time you really know them well.
"There's always a surprise behind the door when you work with a team for three or four or five months. There's always a surprise."
An opportunity for squad players to shine is unlikely to arrive when they face Stoke on Sunday lunchtime.
United enter the weekend six points off leaders Manchester City and looking to build on the 4-1 shellacking of Premier League champions Leicester.
"You know every game is massive," Mourinho said ahead of a tough-looking October. "You know, Watford was massive.
"We lost three points against Watford - not different from the three points we lost against Man City.
"So every game for me is important but, you are right, we have some big opponents in October but that's also a motivation."
