Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said that winning titles is more important for the club than finishing in the top four in the Premier League. The Portuguese made the remark after United were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday in the Premier League, their second successive defeat in the competition, which knocked them out of contention for finishing in the top four. United must now beat Ajax in the Europa League final next week in order to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League.
With Mourinho prioritising the Europa League campaign, he has fielded weakened teams in United’s last two league games – the defeat at Spurs and a 2-0 loss at Arsenal. But with injuries biting at Old Trafford, he said the quest for glory in Europe had left him with no alternatives.
“You can’t play two big competitions with 15 players,” said Mourinho, who made eight changes to the team that had edged Celta Vigo in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday. “At the moment, the Premier League matches are the ones we don’t want to play.”
On Sunday, United still fielded a team that included the likes of Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Michael Carrick. “Because of my respect for [Tottenham], I didn’t rest more people,” said Mourinho, whose side visit Southampton on Wednesday. “You cannot play against Arsenal, you can’t play against Man City or Southampton and play four or five kids. It’s not possible.”
He added, “These last five matches of the season, four very difficult matches away from home and we managed with this situation at least to keep some balance, to fight for results and to give a positive image of dignity. I cannot lose 5-0 or 6-0. So it’s difficult, difficult, but we know what we are doing.”
To his critics, Mourinho said he did not know what was a priority for other clubs, but was clear what United are targeting. “I don’t know other clubs. I don’t know the way they think. I don’t know what is important for them. For Manchester United it’s more important to win titles than to finish top four. Other clubs finishing in the top four, probably they would like to be in our position, to try to fight for a title.”
Happy with individual performances
Despite the 2-1 defeat, Mourinho said he was fine with the individual performances of his players on Sunday, many of which, according to him, did not play in their preferred positions because of the club’s long injury list. “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,” he told MUTV.
“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.”
Mourinho said his hands will continue to be tied with respect to team selection for United’s last two games of the Premier League, against Southampton and Crystal Palace, as they were against Manchester City, Swansea, Arsenal and Tottenham. “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,” he said.
“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.”
– With inputs from AFP
