Mourinho's Verdict On Defeat To Spurs

Jose Mourinho spoke to MUTV, Sky Sports and other media at his post-match press conference after Manchester United's 2-1 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur.

Here are the main points from what the United boss had to say...

PROTECTING THE PLAYERS
"You had a team at the maximum of their potential with all the players with motivation to win in the last match at home [Tottenham] and there was another team trying to find some balance even with some players who were not playing in their best position. But we tried to give minutes to the people that need minutes and to protect people that need to be protected. After 2-0 we brought a bit more balance to the team because we put players in the right positions and we put midfielders in midfield and the team improved a lot. We had 2-1, we could have had 2-2 and I’m happy and I’m fine with what we had in terms of individual performances. The two goals are two very bad goals to concede, there was no concentration and no focus, but the team is not used to playing together and playing in different positions."

HANDS TIED FOR TEAM SELECTION
"Yes they were today, and against Man City, Swansea and Arsenal, and it’ll be the same in the next match against Southampton and the last match against Crystal Palace. When people say that we gambled by going for the Europa League, we didn’t gamble because nobody can play two big competitions with 15 players and this is what we had at the time. We didn’t gamble, it was a compulsory option. So I am happy with the situation today. The ones that needed to play played 90 minutes and I rested a few people. There were no injuries and it’s one less match to play because at this moment the Premier League matches for us are matches we don’t want to play."

FRUSTRATING TO CONCEDE EARLY IN BOTH HALVES
"Yes and they were two bad goals, two set-pieces. I never like to concede goals from set-pieces but the good thing, as I said, is the people who needed to play played. Smalling, Jones, Mata, Martial and Rooney, they need to play 90 minutes. And for the people that needed a rest, almost all of them had that rest so it was positive."

NO NEW INJURIES
"The most important thing for us is there were no injuries and some people were having a proper rest. [Daley] Blind had to play 90 minutes but the next match is for Blind to rest and we have to go like this, step by step, to rest people."

PLAYERS CAN INFLUENCE FINAL DECISIONS
"I analyse the individual performances of the players, try to understand who can give me a little bit more for the final. Of course I have in my mind already what I think is going to be the team but the players can influence decisions with positive or negative performances."

REACTION TO NOT FINISHING IN THE TOP FOUR
"I am not upset because we had to make that decision. When people say we gambled, we didn't gamble, we didn't choose the Europa League - we had to do it. Because if I have Ashley Young, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Tim Fosu-Mensah, if I had these guys I can rotate, I can go for every match. When I have 14, 15 players, I can't do it. It's as simple as that."