Jose Mourinho has had some very harsh words for his own Manchester United squad following their Europa League defeat against Fenerbahce, saying that it was like the team were playing a “summer friendly” while throwing his players’ level of commitment into question.
Mourinho has been incredibly vocal in regards to Man United’s performances this season, publicly lambasting his squad when they have under-performed. This was no different in the manager’s latest post-match press conference, with him criticising their performance against their Turkish rivals. He said: “Our problems started in our global attitude. They were playing the Champions League final, we were playing a summer friendly. That is the reality of how the game started.
“They deserved to win, football is not just about quality, it is also about effort, commitment, playing the limits and giving everything. You have to play for 90 minutes in the maximum of your desire and concentration.
“In an atmosphere like this, to give the advantage to the opposition, that is where they want to be. They then slowed the play, putting pressure on the referee, simulating and that is our fault.”
He then went on to provide Wayne Rooney with a back-handed compliment, adding that “one of the good things today is that Rooney finally scored a goal”. Rooney has struggled with a notable dip in form this season, and while his performance against Fenerbahce was hardly world class, he did manage to sink in an impressive goal from outside the box in the 88th minute. But that still wasn’t enough to win his team the game, with Fenerbahce going on to win 2-1.
Rooney’s first touch is gold. The commentary was even better. pic.twitter.com/MKPdOFiFk0
— eulogy (@insidesafstand) November 3, 2016
Manchester United now sit in third place in the Europa League’s Group A, behind leaders Fenerbahce and Feyenoord. Following their victory, Fenerbahce manager Dick Advocaat said that his team could have achieved an ever larger victory against their Premier League rivals, saying: “We scored two goals but could even have scored four or five.”
