Jose: It’s small fry but I am up for it
SINCE lifting the UEFA Cup with Porto in 2003, Jose Mourinho has gone 13 years and 125 European games without having to lower himself by playing in what has always been the Champions League’s poor relation.
The only major European trophy to elude Manchester United has undergone a makeover in that time, but Mourinho landed in Rotterdam yesterday admitting that he has no great appetite for a Europa League campaign that starts against Feyenoord at a half-empty De Kuip stadium tonight.
United find themselves in the group stage of this competition for the first time, having previously dropped into the knockout rounds under Sir Alex Ferguson and Louis van Gaal.
Mourinho made no secret of the fact that he would rather be somewhere else, but is doing his best to rouse his players for a challenge he readily admits could damage their Premier League title hopes.
‘It is not a competition that Man United wants,’ he said, ‘but it is a competition where we are and that is the reality.
‘We must find the motivation I have found myself already. I have passed that to the players because I know the Europa League is not the big dream of every big player.
‘But you are not in the Champions League and you have to find your motivation. We have to respect the competition. You have to make sure we are not sleeping and that we are not losing before the match starts because you don’t find the right attitude.
‘What happened last season in Midtjylland is something you don’t forget as a fan. Maybe as a player, but not as a fan,’ he added, referring to United’s humiliating first-leg defeat by the Danish minnows under Van Gaal in February.
To emphasise his point, Mourinho has brought a stronger squad than expected even though Wayne Rooney, Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard have been left at home to rest for Sunday’s Premier League game at Watford.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (thigh) and Luke Shaw ( hamstring) are nursing injuries, while Phil Jones has been ruled out for a month with a knee problem.
‘My message to the players is that I bring a very good squad,’ said Mourinho. ‘To lose, we bring kids. So I bring nearly everybody to give them the right message.
‘We are going to play a very important match on Sunday (at Watford) and it would be great for all of these guys to be resting and working at Carrington. But, no, this is the game, not Watford, and we’re coming with a very good team.’
Thursday night football has never been conducive to a title challenge, and Mourinho reiterated comments made to Sportsmail earlier this week that the Premier League have done little to help their clubs in Europe.
Asked if it was harder to become champions while playing in the Europa League, he replied: ‘Yes. Especially because you also have the chance to play on the Monday. But when we play Thursday we were never given a Monday spot to have one more day.
‘We didn’t get that privilege. In fact, the week we play Liverpool, Fenerbahce and Chelsea (next month), the gift we had was to play Liverpool on the Monday — but on the Monday before, not the Monday after.
‘So we know we are not going to have support on that. But we’re not going to make a drama out of it.’
Dutch league leaders Feyenoord have halved their capacity of 45,000 and erected 10-metre high nets around the De Kuip to avoid more UEFA sanctions following crowd trouble in a Champions League tie against Roma in February.
But former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt, now 36, promised to try to pile more misery on United after their first defeat of the season in last weekend’s Manchester derby.
‘They’re under enormous pressure because everyone wants them to win the league,’ said Kuyt. ‘Everyone can see what it did to the team when they lost to City. Already there is more pressure on them.
‘ Mourinho needs time to be successful but in football you don’t get time. The pressure is already on because they only lost one game.
‘ Is it the right time to play them? When there is a new manager and new players, you have a bigger chance.’