Half-time talk gets Mourinho response that saved his skin
IT was the team talk that may have saved Jose Mourinho’s skin. After witnessing his side go 2-0 down to winless Newcastle after just 10 minutes, the United boss needed a huge response.
His players’ heads had dropped after Yoshinori Muto’s doubled the visitors’ advantage and they struggled to get back into the game – even after creative spark Juan Mata was introduced after the quarter of an hour mark.
So, for the second time in seven months, United would have to comeback from 2-0 down at the break to claim all three points. Somehow, they did it to ease the pressure on Mourinho.
Here is a round-up of what Mourinho and the players have said about what really happened in the home dressing room at Old Trafford at half-time on Saturday evening.
“The manager asked us to be men, to not be afraid, to go and play. And that’s what we did in the second half,” Marouane Fellaini said.
“In half-time, we opened our hearts,” Mourinho told MUTV. “And we spoke about tactical changes for two minutes and we spoke for eight minutes about other things that I thought, ‘Let the players a little bit more free to face the second-half’ and then 3-2. Amazing.”
“A lot of strong words were said at half-time in the changing room,” Luke Shaw told MUTV. “I think everything that was said was correct. To be 2-0 down at half-time against Newcastle at home was really bad.”
“We just thought, ‘Let’s go for it, give everything we have got,’” Romelu Lukaku told MUTV. “That’s what the fans want to see, quality and sacrifice at the same time, and that’s what we did.”