Mourinho Backs His "Very Good Guys"

Jose Mourinho has acknowledged it won’t be easy to bounce back from consecutive defeats when Manchester United visit Watford in the Premier League on Sunday, yet the manager has total faith in his players who he has described as "very good guys". 

The Reds were beaten in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford last Saturday and that result was followed by a similarly disappointing Europa League defeat to Feyenoord on Thursday night. 

Those results have slowed United’s momentum after a fast-paced start to the season but Mourinho is unconcerned about any potential effect on his squad. Speaking at his post-match press conference in Rotterdam, the boss praised his players’ willingness to work hard in such a circumstance.

“You win matches and people are happy and full of confidence,” he pointed out. “You lose matches then people are sad and they feel it. That is the normal nature of football players. I am here to try to stop them from being in a negative mood because we lost two matches. They were two matches where we didn’t play well for 90 minutes but they were two matches where we deserved a better result."

Looking forward to the Premier League outing at Watford, Mourinho continued: “I don’t think it will be easy [to bounce back] but the game will be independent. It is a new event, it is another match, it starts at minute zero and so I think it has nothing to do with the two previous matches.

“Obviously when you lose matches then the mood and feeling is not the same. That is normal, but we are experienced people and the players are very good guys. I know they want to win, they want to work and that is what we have to do.” 

Mourinho made eight changes to his starting XI in Rotterdam, providing much-needed playing time for some of his squad members who have featured sparingly so far this season. He also rested the likes of Antonio Valencia, Luke Shaw and Wayne Rooney by leaving them at home in Manchester.

The boss suggested all three will return to the fold at Vicarage Road when he was quizzed by reporters in Holland, as he also played down suggestions that the midday Sunday kick-off will hinder his team.
“Well first of all I have players that are not here,” the boss explained. “I have players that didn’t play here for 90 minutes, so it is a not a problem with accumulation. I know that we play at midday on Sunday and at this moment it is 9pm on Thursday, but we are professionals.

“Let’s not make an excuse for Sunday because we had to play this game [on Thursday]. The players are professional. They have to be fit and they are. And they have to be mentally strong to play again.”