JOSE’S FURY
Mourinho slams players after shock Huddersfield defeat drops United five points behind leaders City
JOSE MOURINHO ripped into his Manchester United stars by questioning their attitude after an embarrassing defeat at Huddersfield Town.
United have dropped five points in a week to fall further behind Premier League leaders Manchester City and Mourinho was seething.
He demanded his players front up after hearing Ander Herrera bemoan a lack of passion during a post-match television interview.
‘I heard that Ander Herrera in his interviews was saying that the attitude and desire were really poor,’ Mourinho said.
‘Oh my God! When a player says that and a player feels that, I think they should all go to the press conference and explain why, because I can’t explain why.’
Aaron Mooy and Laurent Depoitre capitalised on mistakes by Juan Mata and Victor Lindelof but Mourinho insisted a lack of desire was his team’s undoing.
The Portuguese also suggested it was the worst performance he has witnessed as a manager.
Mourinho added: ‘In the first half I was just waiting for that mistake. It was Mata and Victor but it could be another one because the attitude was really poor. So they beat us on attitude. When I lose matches, I like to lose matches because the opponent was better than us, had more quality than us. When you lose a match because of attitude, that’s really bad.
‘Of course it concerns me. If it happened today, why can’t it happen tomorrow? I don’t even remember a friendly match where the attitude was so poor.
‘I know you like to individualise the mistakes and defeats. I think it’s very unfair because the mistakes of Lindelof in the second goal and Mata in the first goal belong to the context.’
Herrera claimed United ‘lost every ball’ and didn’t have enough fight.
‘When you play a team that normally you are better than, you have to match their aggression and passion,’ he said. ‘We didn’t do
that. It cannot happen again. They were more passionate than us, more aggressive. We cannot accept that.’
David Wagner revelled in a victory secured by Huddersfield’s early aggression.
He said: ‘I live in Huddersfield, so I know a little bit about how huge this result is for this town, for the supporters, for the chairman, for the board.
‘I’m totally aware that his is a very special moment.
‘Today was extraordinary, one of the top three I’d say of the moments I have as a manager of this club.’
Mourinho was quick to leave the John Smith’s Stadium in a huff but not before admitting their rivals’ physicality had been too much.
‘Huddersfield played like I like,’ Mourinho said. ‘They played with everything they have. Like it has to be, with everything. Aggression, desire, motivation, sacrifice. And we didn’t.
‘So the team who deserved to win, won. Simple. It’s a surprise, but reality.
‘If I were a Manchester United supporter, a traditional supporter, I’d be really disappointed. The conditions are the same for everyone, for both them and for us. The only thing that’s different is that we played a game two days ago and they didn’t.
‘But we already knew for a long, long time that one plays in the Champions League, the other doesn’t.
‘So the difference in quality is compensated by the fact that one team plays more than the other. That’s football.’