‘Mourinho should be grateful for heavy shift’

JAMIE CARRAGHER HAS told Jose Mourinho to stop complaining about Manchester United’s fixture list and instead be grateful that they are involved in so many matches at the business end of the season.

United were involved in nine matches last month, including crunch Premier League fixtures against Chelsea and Manchester City as well as a two-legged Europa League quarterfinal against Anderlecht. United went unbeaten throughout the month.

However that wasn’t enough to stop Mourinho complaining, with the United manager blaming the club’s recent 1-1 draw with Swansea on United’s ‘inhuman’ fixture list.

“You cannot isolate the performance out of the context,” Mourinho complained. “This is the ninth match of April, it is not human. We have a squad of 22 that is reduced to 13 or 14 players. The players are very tired.”

That explanation didn’t convince Sky Sports pundit Carragher, however, who said that Mourinho should in fact be grateful for United’s busy month.

“If you are Manchester United manager, I think you want to play nine games in April, because it shows you are still in competitions, still going for things,” he said.

“Whenever I started the season at Liverpool, my mentality was to play 40 to 50 games, because it meant I was playing every week and was being successful.

“I don’t see anything out of the ordinary in the number of games they have played. This year they could play 63 games, last year they played 59 so not a massive difference.

“He is complaining, but that should be the norm going forward for United.”

United have another busy month ahead of them, with their two-legged Europa League semifinal to be played alongside league matches against Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Crystal Palace. – The Independent