Speaking in the aftermath of Saturday’s 2-1 derby defeat to local rivals Manchester City – on occasion when United were roundly criticised for a lack of pace and dynamic movement up front – the Portuguese revealed some of his thoughts ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League fixture against Feyenoord.
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Teenage sensation Marcus Rashford will make his first Manchester United start of the season, after impressing as a substitute again on Saturday, while Morgan Schneiderlin, Matteo Darmian and Chris Smalling are also set to start.
The 18-year-old created a number of opportunities after being introduced and even had a goal ruled out for offside, albeit rightly during a bright spell for United.
“We have played, not all of the games, but part of most of the games at a high level, and of course we have to continue”.
“I had two or three players in the first half that, if I know what is going to happen, I don’t play them”. He is mainly a No9 – if you want to play him in different positions, we need to work him, we need to improve him, but his big personality is there.
Mata and Anthony Martial were replaced by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard – but manager Jose Mourinho ended up substituting both those men at half-time – and the Spaniard is now keen to look forward.
“The kid gave us what we had needed in the first half”.
“It’s been a special day for me, playing in the Manchester derby and scoring a goal – I am really happy and proud”, the Nigeria worldwide told reporters.
“Let’s speak for example about Mkhitaryan – how many big matches has he played?”
“I think that the way we try to play now is very enjoyable, especially for the attacking players, because we try to play nice football, the way we wanted to play”.
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“For example, Ander Herrera he came on for the second half and he was the one who allowed us to recover the ball fast, to press higher, to bring the team higher to recover the ball”. And after only a couple of months it is too early to know them really well.
