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Jose Mourinho attacks Uefa for making Man Utd travel to sub-zero Ukraine in December
Jose Mourinho has attacked Uefa for making Manchester United travel to Ukraine in December for their final Europa League group game against Zorya Luhansk.
Mourinho spoke to the media immediately after inspecting the playing surface at the Chornomorets Stadium and was alarmed by the amount of ice on the surface, even though it has been under covers, as well as the hardness of the ground underneath.
Uefa do not take seasonal weather conditions in Ukraine into account – although they do in neighbouring Russia – when deciding fixtures and Mourinho is unimpressed as he warned today’s game could be dangerous for the players.
A pitch inspection has been scheduled for 10am local time on Thursday with temperatures overnight in Odessa set to fall as low as -9C, the pitch, which does not have undersoil heating, is unlikely to improve and could even deteriorate further.
“The pitch is very hard and very icy,” said Mourinho, whose dark bags under his eyes hint at the problems he is wrestling with at Old Trafford. “Uefa know the conditions of the pitch and everybody knows the conditions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe at this time of year.
“If they are concerned, they should not play the last game of the group here in mid-December, when there are going to be problems. It should have been played in the middle of November.”
When coming out to train at the stadium, Daley Blind was also visibly concerned and told United team-mates “it is like running on rock.”
Mourinho added: “Our flight was good, the stadium is good, our hotel is good, but the pitch is very bad. We know it is very cold and it is difficult to have a good pitch when it is like this.
“The people are trying hard to make it a better pitch, they have it covered and are trying to blow heat on to it, but they cannot perform miracles. Let us hope it all goes well.”
Mourinho needs it to go well. With his side’s Premier League campaign faltering because of an inability to win games, even when playing well, the Portuguese can ill afford an early exit from Europe.
United only require a point in Ukraine to progress to the knockout phase, although they need to be mindful that, although Zorya are the weakest side in the group, they will be highly motivated.
Zorya have been forced out of their home city of Luhansk as a result of the conflict with Russian separatists, and play their European games 550 miles away in Odessa. A famous win over United would be a memorable triumph during their nomadic plight.
United’s terrible away form will also give the Ukrainian side hope. They have only won twice on their travels in Europe in 13 attempts since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and have lost five in a row, including the two against Feyenoord and Fenerbahce that have been played under Mourinho.
“We know it’s a crucial match for us,” Mourinho said. “If we lose we can be out of the competition and we don’t want to be out. We want to go forward in the competition, they are already out, but I think they will be desperate to win the game.
“The Europa League is not more important now than it was, we are going in the same direction. We always said there are more important competitions and that this is difficult because you are playing Thursday and Sunday.
“It’s difficult to play alongside other massive competitions but we want to try and win it. As long as we are in the competition we want to win it, but first we have to reach the knockout stage. The next step is a difficult one but we want to qualify from a difficult group.”
When asked about United’s terrible away record, Mourinho absolved himself of blame, pointing out that the run started long before he arrived. “I can only speak about myself and my matches,” he said. “We lost at Feyenoord, a game we should win, the team played well, we had the game under control, but when we were pushing to win, we lost.
“Against Fenerbahce, we conceded a goal in the first minute and gave the opposition the ideal conditions to play the game they wanted to play. Both are tough places to go “I agree it’s not good enough, if you want to qualify in Europe for the next round you cannot lose three away games.”