Let's not make any excuses, says Jose Mourinho after Feyenoord defeat
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has attributed the lack of ambition from his side in the first half as the reason for their loss in the match against the Dutch side. The Portuguese also defended his team selection, claiming that Thursday's game had all good players.
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho won his first four league matches after joining Manchester United this season, but suddenly the team look to have reverted back to the old slump they witnessed under previous managers - they lost the Manchester Derby to Man City and now the Europa League opener in Rotterdam against Dutch side Feyenoord. Tonny Vilhena's 79th-minute goal amidst offside claims from United players was enough to hand the hosts a narrow 1-0 win against the English side.
Speaking about his side's poor first half showing, Mourinho said,
"I think in the first half we did not have an especially ambitious attitude," in his post-match press conference.
Saying that the team improved once the second half started, Mourinho claimed that United did not deserve the loss.
"I am not saying bad, but I'm saying not with the ambition you need to win football matches. The second half was different, it was exactly when we were trying to win and Feyenoord was trying not to lose that they scored the goal, which I think we didn't deserve," reported Goal.com.
Going into the tie, the former Inter coach left out a host of first-choice players including skipper Wayne Rooney, left back Luke Shaw in order to keep them fresh for the weekend tie against Watford in the Premier League. But, he was quick to defend his decisions.
"So I looked at this game, and you can say okay you changed eight players, but I played with a good team, I played with enough good players to win the match. In the second half they answered to my words at half-time."
Saying that he was not trying to make any excuses about the Sunday's game, Mourinho added,
"First of all I have players that are not here, I have players that didn't play here for 90 minutes, so it's not a problem of accumulation. We play midday Sunday, we are professionals, let's not make an excuse for Sunday because we have to play these games. They have to be fit, they are, and they have to be mentally strong."
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