Key quotes: Jose Mourinho reacts to Spurs defeat
Jose Mourinho reflected on a disappointing night after his Manchester United team were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur. The Reds lost 2-0 at Wembley Stadium as Christian Eriksen’s goal after 11 seconds and an own goal by Phil Jones gave Spurs the three points.
Read the key points from the boss in his post-match interviews with BBC Sport and BT Sport…
RUES ‘RIDICULOUS’ GOALS
“It’s a performance that starts with a ridiculous goal. That goal after a few seconds has a big influence in the game because Tottenham can play the way they like to play. In the end, we played against a very good team. Both goals were ridiculous goals, also the second was unlucky. The first goal is an accumulation of mistakes in spite of the fact that everything happened so fast. My players have watched the Tottenham kick-off many, many times. They know the way they do it and they also know [Harry] Kane normally starts in a position in front of the line to win some metres. We didn’t control it, lost the second ball on the ground and it was a really, really bad goal.”
WE ALLOWED SPURS TO PLAY
“We reacted and had a good reaction for 10 or 15 minutes with a good approach to the box and crosses in the face of the goal. But I think the second goal, mentally, kills us and it gives Tottenham the possibility to play the way they like to play. We tried to not let them play that way but, at 2-0, it was in their hands. A team to win matches needs to score goals and also defend well - on this occasion we were very bad. Lukaku could score and make it 2-1 to bring the team into the game but, also, Tottenham could have scored more goals on the counter-attack.”
HEADING FOR HALF-TIME EARLY
“I was trying to prepare my communication to the team, a couple of minutes to prepare. So, when they arrive, I could say what I want to say. I think I was unlucky with [Marouane] Fellaini as I wanted to change a little bit the dynamic of the team. After a couple of minutes, he was injured.”
INJURY FOR FELLAINI
“He came off because he had something in his knee. Unlucky for him and unlucky for me. He came on with enthusiasm, but he has an injury in his ligament. It’s always the same thing. It is the lateral ligament. I don’t think it’s a big, big thing but he was immediately feeling something and telling us he couldn’t carry on. No [Pogba wasn't injured], we just changed for Fellaini to try different qualities with different players."
ALEXIS GAVE EVERYTHING
"He worked hard, but again the transformation the game had, the game was not for him. In the second half, I tried to give him a position where he could be closer to [Romelu] Lukaku but then he felt the need to drop too much to organise. But he gave everything, good effort and this is a good feeling for me to know that the player is available with that spirit."
"He gave everything, good effort, and this is a good feeling for me to know that the player has that spirit."
WE KEEP FIGHTING
"We lost. I always told that when the leader [in the table] is with a certain distance, I've been there a few times, you are calm, you're relaxed, you don't feel the pressure. You know that your opponents sooner or later are going to drop at least a couple of points and you're completely in control, so yes we played match after match. Yes, the Premier League finishes for us at Old Trafford in the last match against Watford in May but we knew that the distance to the leader was already considerable, even before this match. Now we have us, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Arsenal - we will be there fighting for the positions."