Cape Town – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho admits he got his tactics and team selection wrong in their 2-1 derby day defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
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“I had to try hard to convince him to choose us instead of the other one”. “This game [the derby], I know clearly what happened in the first-half, I know clearly what happened in the second-half”.
“Normally, people look to the football talent but the personality at this level is very important and he was showing that immediately”.
From there, City continued to control the game and United, who started with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard in place of Juan Mata and Anthony Martial, could not live with the high-tempo style of their rivals. Performances are the only way that I can decide.
Asked if players should be anxious for their places, he added: “If you are asking me if some of them are going to play against Feyenoord, then no”.
“I thought because of the characteristics of the game we could hurt them playing with some individuals with some qualities, they didn’t give what I want”.
“Let’s speak, for example, about Mkhitaryan”.
“He doesn’t lose many games at home, and it’s a big, big moment”.
“The performances are the deciding factor”, Mourinho told reporters. “He coped with many situations”. In the second half, we knew they would change the system – they put Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini more in front and they were much stronger.
New Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had a tough first game in goal though, dropping Wayne Rooney’s free kick for Ibrahimovic’s goal. “But Ander Herrera came on and he was phenomenal in his attitude”. I think the spectators enjoyed it because it was open until the end.
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But while Jose Mourinho typically found a way to blame the referee for United’s defeat, he also blasted his players for somewhat bottling it under the weight of expectation.
