Mourinho Reflects On United Win Over Foxes

Jose Mourinho was understandably delighted as Manchester United maintained the winning start to the Premier League season against Leicester City on Saturday.

Goals from substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini earned a 2-0 victory over the Foxes at Old Trafford as the table-topping Reds made it nine points out of nine before the international break.

Read what the boss had to say on a number of topics in his post-match interviews with BT Sport and MUTV…

THE PLAYERS WERE POSITIVE
“I think we played very well. The result was open at 0-0. The blue wall was very well organised and I always give credit for that. They defended very well. After the goal, I have to say we were very good. If I have to choose a word to describe my team, I would have to say solid. All the players are motivated. They are on the bench waiting for a chance.”

SUBSTITUTES MAKE AN IMPACT
“I’m happy for them – all of them working hard, trying to be in the line-up. They are on the bench, they get one minute on the pitch and ready to give everything. I saw [Ander] Herrera on the bench, screaming, speaking, helping players and he wasn’t on the pitch. This is the group we have and the team we have.”

PATIENCE PAYS OFF
“It could be [one of those days] but the reality is that last season, for example against Bournemouth, we lost a penalty but after the penalty, we were emotionally in trouble and this time we missed a penalty and we weren’t emotionally in trouble. We kept playing and then I made the changes to intensify the dynamic in attack and to bring [on] Marcus [Rashford] who is obviously a completely different player than [Juan] Mata and then we score and Marouane [Fellaini] to play instead of Micki [Henrikh Mkhitaryan] who had a yellow card to control the aerial space in front of our box. So, I have the options, the players are giving me the answers and I’m really happy with this first month of the season.”

QUALITY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
“The difference is the quality of our football, we're playing better and if we hadn't won this match I wouldn't have anyone to blame. The team is playing very well and I'm very confident. We are comfortable on the ball and dangerous on the counterattack. But nine points after three matches is nothing different for us because we did that last season.”

ZLATAN’S RETURN
“He will be back in January. When the market is open and people are spending money we don't. But we get a player who was fundamental for us last season. He comes to give us extra quality in the second half of the season.”

PERFECT START TO THE SEASON
“No [we couldn’t have hoped for better] but I repeat, last season was the same, but the only difference was that last season we had the results but not great performances and I think these three matches, we had the results and three very solid and compact performances.”