JOSE MOURINHO SAID Fenerbahce were deserving winners after seeing Man United lose 2-1 to the Turks in the Europa League tonight.
Mourinho criticised his side in particular for their concession of an early goal, which left the Red Devils with an uphill task for the remainder of the game.
“A team that concedes a goal after two minutes is a team that’s not ready, that’s not mentally prepared, not focused, not concentrated,” Mourinho told BT Sport.
“To give the advantage to the opponent in this atmosphere is where they want to be.
“Then they defend, they counter-attack, they stop the game, they simulate free kicks, they put pressure on the referee’s decisions, they win lots of time with injuries, but it’s the game and it’s our fault to let them be in that situation.”
Mourinho also cited “attitude” as a key difference between the hosts and his side.
“They were playing the Champions League final and we were playing a summer friendly,” the Portuguese coach said. “That is the reality of the way the game started.”
The Man United boss added that centre-backs Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo were ill-equipped physically to dominate the game.
“It’s difficult for us to play a game of this difficulty with two left-backs playing central defender. It’s not possible to be really dominant and strong without two strong central defenders.”
Nevertheless, Mourinho was remaining positive about his side’s chances of progressing, despite currently sitting third in their group behind Feyenoord and Fenerbahce.
“We don’t depend on the others, we depend on ourselves. If we win our two matches, we qualify. I think even with four points we can qualify, because in the last match — Feyenoord and Fenerbahce — it’s impossible for both to get the three points.”
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