Mourinho exclusive: We'll be ready for Spurs

Jose Mourinho spoke exclusively to us on Friday afternoon ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night. Here’s what the manager had to say about our preparations and what kind of game he expects against Spurs…

How have the players reacted to last weekend’s defeat against Brighton?
“I think nobody is happy, obviously. I have enough experience to know that in football you cannot look back for good results or bad results; you have always to look to the next one. That’s our life. I’m really happy with the work we did in the week and with the players’ commitment and I look forward to the game.”

Is it frustrating that you have to wait until Monday night to play?
“You can look at it from two different perspectives. From one side I would say yes but on another side I would say we need time to work and some time to try to recover some players from injury. So it was not bad for us.”

Do you have any team news for us ahead of the game?
“Today is Friday – we still have Saturday and Sunday to make decisions but let’s wait and see.”

Are you expecting a close game against Tottenham?
“Just looking at Leicester and Brighton – against Leicester we didn’t make mistakes and we played well, we won. Against Brighton, we made mistakes and we paid for the mistakes and we lost. I think you look at football in a pragmatic way – normally you get what you deserve, so if you want to win against a big team, you cannot make mistakes.”

Will it be a big boost to play under the floodlights in front of our fans at Old Trafford?
“That’s what we tried to do last season and in big matches last season managed to get lots of good results, which in the end are points, like the other points. But for the supporters normally it has a little different feeling.”

Have you been surprised by the level of scrutiny and backlash after just one game [the defeat against Brighton]?
“I don’t know because I didn’t read.”

Are you excited for the game on Monday night to come around?
“Of course. I love to play football and love to stand from the touchline. I’m always looking forward to our matches, especially after a negative result [because] what you want is to play again.”

Credit: Manutd.com