Jose's Verdict On Win Over Wigan

Jose Mourinho admitted Manchester United were below par in the first half of Sunday's Emirates FA Cup fourth-round tie against Wigan Athletic, but felt his side deserved to win after a much-improved display in the second period. Here's what the boss said in his post-match press conference and interview with BBC...

On the match
"We deserved to win. The first half was not very good but we managed to be 1-0 in front. The goal gave us a different second half, it gave us a chance at half-time to speak with the players and make them feel the first half was not good enough. We spoke about changing a few things in the dynamic of the team. The guys obviously accepted it well because the second half was much better."

On Wigan's challenge
"We knew Warren [Joyce] would organise the team very well defensively, with aggression, but we knew that to break that wall we needed to played better than we did in the first half. We were quite lucky to be 1-0 up and then in the second half, with more space, we killed the game. We put a different pace into the game, there was much more intense defending, passing and movement. We deserved to win, the job was done and we are in the last 16."

On Bastian Schweinsteiger
"He is staying and he is going on the Europa League list because we opened spaces with [Memphis] Depay and [Morgan] Schneiderlin leaving. We don’t have many players; in midfield we don’t have many options, so obviously he is an option. Ninety minutes today was probably too hard for him but it was important for him to have an impact with his volley and now I think he’s happy. If he was a good professional when he was not playing, now he’s having some minutes and opportunities he’s going to be the same good professional. With so many matches and competitions, he’s going to be an option."

On two debutants
"For [Axel] Tuanzebe and Joel [Pereira], it was their first match and it’s always a nice moment for every a player, a moment that stays in their career. So it was nice for me to give them the opportunity it’s not my work. The work was made in the Academy, where the players have been since they were young kids; in Joel the work was also done in Portugal, where he played for six months with Belenenses. So it’s not my work at all – I’m just the guy that have them the opportunity."

On competing for four trophies
"In a realistic way, I think the Premier League is almost an impossible mission but I don’t think about it – I just think of winning the next match and that is not an impossible mission; it’s just a difficult match we can win. That’s how we think in the Premier League. In the League Cup we have 50 per cent chance of winning, in the FA Cup we’re in the last 16 and in the Europa League we’re in the last 32, so there are lots of matches to play."

On the fixture schedule
"We are going to have a very difficult season compared with other clubs. Liverpool are going to play 16 matches until the end of the season, Chelsea will play 16 matches plus some in the FA Cup, and we are in this crazy situation. I think Southampton will have 15 days without football before the [EFL Cup] final; in those 15 days we play two matches against Saint-Etienne and the next round of the FA Cup."

On Henrikh Mkhitaryan
"Since he came into the team, we and Micki himself thought he was ready. He had a good impact immediately, then he had a break with the injury against Tottenham, and then he came back and played quite well, so we are happy with him."

On other individual displays
"I think the performance of the team was good enough. The performance of the players individually was good enough too – obviously, some were better than others, but that’s football. Overall, I’m happy with what they did."