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Jose Mourinho: Man Utd boss says players may be struggling with pressure

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments441

Man Utd players low on confidence - Mourinho

Manchester United's players may be struggling under the pressure of playing for the 20-time English champions, says manager Jose Mourinho.

Sunday's 3-1 defeat at Premier League rivals Watford means United have lost their past three matches.

"Some individuals probably feel the pressure and responsibility too much," said former Chelsea boss Mourinho.

"We started the season very well. But was I thinking that my team was ready, perfect, unbeatable? Not at all."

He added: "I was completely aware that we were not perfect, with lots of players who are not end products and can make their own mistakes."

Mourinho has lost three consecutive games in a season for the first time since February 2002, when he was Porto boss.

United won the Community Shield and their opening three league games under the former Real Madrid manager, who replaced Louis van Gaal in the summer.

But defeat by neighbours Manchester City at Old Trafford last weekend was followed by a disappointing Europa League loss at Feyenoord on Thursday.

On Sunday, Watford led through Etienne Capoue's first-half strike, only for teenage United striker Marcus Rashford to level from close range.

Hornets substitute Juan Zuniga scored with seven minutes to go before Troy Deeney sealed the win with an injury-time penalty.

The defeat leaves United seventh in the table with nine points from five games.

MOTD3: 'Somebody needs to be dropped' at Manchester United

'Refereeing mistakes are punishing us'

Mourinho believes his team have fallen victim to a number of unfair refereeing decisions and felt they were harshly treated against Watford.

He thought Anthony Martial was fouled in the lead-up to Watford's first goal.

Mourinho also claimed United were denied a penalty in the 2-1 derby defeat by City, while a Feyenoord player appeared to be offside in the build-up to their goal in last week's 1-0 win in the Netherlands.

"The referees' crucial mistakes are not in my control, there is nothing I can do about that," said Mourinho. "That is not under my control.

"So we were punished by these mistakes and I can't do anything about it."

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441 comments

  • Comment posted by turfs, at 08:53 19 Sep 2016

    Well done Watford.

  • Comment posted by User0669120925, at 08:54 19 Sep 2016

    Is that the same pressure that every other Premiership team faces?

  • Comment posted by ShirleyTriumph, at 08:59 19 Sep 2016

    Surprise, surprise. ANOTHER HYS about Man U.

    What about Everton's brilliant start? Or Stoke's not so brilliant start?

    Always Manchester this, Manchester that on this site.

  • Comment posted by Glad All Over - CPFC, at 09:01 19 Sep 2016

    If you look closely at the incident with Eva Carneiro last season, you can just about witness the exact moment when Mourinho's career as a top class coach came to an end.

  • Comment posted by alex, at 08:52 19 Sep 2016

    Mourinho has been found out. He has spent huge amounts of money, plays defensive, unattractive football and doesn't get the results he once did. Oh and he kills morale. I reckon I could probably do all that.

  • Comment posted by Vilyem Hize, at 09:16 19 Sep 2016

    How did your team do at the weekend?

    We'll talk amongst ourselves as supporters of at least 91 other English teams.

    My team had a good away win. Very happy.

  • Comment posted by maccaynwa, at 09:15 19 Sep 2016

    Not even out of September and Jose has decided that it's the players fault and the ref's fault. End of October it'll be the fans fault and then the boards fault in November. Come Christmas it'll be Rudolph's and Jan it'll be the alignment of the planets.

    I can't believe I use to think Jose was a breath of fresh air for the prem.

  • Comment posted by User0259351439, at 09:14 19 Sep 2016

    cant handle pressure.. OMG. These are supposed to be "top drawer", Entertainers we are told to justify their salaries. Yesterday, on MOTD, players are more brittle these days when dropping them. Pressure. Try an A& E ward lads. Pressure. On how much? pressure ? Perform in the West End ( the equivalent of your status) don't perform, show closes. You have your long term multi million contracts

  • Comment posted by HurstFox, at 09:02 19 Sep 2016

    Wouldn't it be amusing if a loss to Leicester next week cost him his job for the second season in a row. :-)

  • Comment posted by bobsy, at 08:48 19 Sep 2016

    Another Man U article. Long live the BBC

  • Comment posted by blue_chico, at 09:20 19 Sep 2016

    Well, the much-hyped battle for footballing dominance in Manchester didn't last very long did it?

  • Comment posted by Vilyem Hize, at 11:38 19 Sep 2016

    Next mank HYS (this afternoon or first thing tomorrow):

    How Can Mourinho Turn It Around?

    Followed by:

    Has Mourinho Turned It Around Yet?

    Followed by:

    How Great Can Mourinho Make This Team?

    Followed by:

    Has Mourinho Made Them Great Yet?

    That takes us to Wednesday morning.....

    Why are the BBC ignoring the people? They must know this mank bias is ridiculous and insulting.

  • Comment posted by Soccer_mania, at 09:10 19 Sep 2016

    It turns out splashing out half a billion on a bunch of overrated mercenaries doesn't get results.

  • Comment posted by VF, at 09:33 19 Sep 2016

    I wonder how many "Life long"United fans (from everywhere apart from Manchester)will be "life long" Man City fans by the end of the season ? 😉

  • Comment posted by ericlemagnifique, at 08:58 19 Sep 2016

    The only reason Utd got rid of Moyes & LVG was because the big names wound't go to OT. Jose has the pulling power, so they got him. They didn't take into account the reason why Real & Chelsea go rid of him, he's been on the wane for a few years. A one trick pony who's been found out by most but not the Utd board. Utd can't afford 2 more defeats or title challenge will be over, which I think it is,

  • Comment posted by Santiago, at 08:53 19 Sep 2016

    Why Jose now thinks slagging off his own players in public is good management, I'll never know.

    Perhaps he really wants to become a low-rent call centre sales manager or something.

  • Comment posted by Swansea_Jack, at 09:28 19 Sep 2016

    When your time at the top is done, no amount of over-spending on overpriced primadonas will stop the rot. Just look at what happened to Liverpool in the early 90's. There will still be individual trophies won, no doubt about that; the days of dominance however ended with Sir Alex's retirement.

  • Comment posted by Andy Kemp, at 09:21 19 Sep 2016

    Man Utd are a pathetic disgrace, Zlatan is a overpaid disgrace, Pogba is a overpriced disgrace, Rooney is a fat disgrace and Jose is a special disgrace!

  • Comment posted by User0231937954, at 09:05 19 Sep 2016

    And how are you dealing with the pressure, Jose?

  • Comment posted by madmarvel, at 09:17 19 Sep 2016

    you break the world record for pogba and sign Zlatan who are supposed world class (who I think are overrated), then you say they can't handle the pressure. World class players can handle any pressure, mourinho can't handle the pressure, just a cheque book manager and this will be his 2nd season in meltdown mode

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