Manchester United struggled to a 1-0 win at home in the Europa League against minnows Zorya Luhansk with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring the all important winner. Although the Premier League side were expected to win easily, the minnows caused them plenty of problems throughout the match.
Jose Mourinho’s frustration was very evident on Thursday when he had a go at assistant coach Giovanni Cerra and his tactics book for giving wrong instructions to Paul Pogba. The ‘special one’ was seen pointing his finger angrily and yelling at Cerra, who produces infographics and visuals at Manchester United.
The Portuguese manager also had some angry words with assistant Rui Faria even slamming the folder full of tactics to get his point across.
It is likely that Cerra would have made a mistake in his tactics book, sending out mixed messages to Paul Pogba ahead of his introduction last night. When asked about in the press conference, Mourinho said:
“It was set pieces, organisation, they changed their team before the game.
“Paul was a bit confused with the changes and obviously I want my assistants to take care of all the details.”
It wasn’t easy for United who struggled to break down a stubborn Zorya defence, but the introduction of Wayne Rooney and the header of Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped United get past the spunky minnows.
Mourinho also called the upcoming fixture list a ‘poisoned gift’ with Manchester United facing Liverpool, Fernebache and Chelsea in a space of eight days. Speaking to reporters, he said:
“Well, we could play Liverpool on the Saturday, we could play Liverpool on the Sunday,' the United manager said. “We play Liverpool on the Monday.
“So maybe we don't have the best conditions, especially because we play against two top Premier League games that don't play in European competitions .We had this kind of poisoned gift of playing on the Monday. That creates a very difficult situation, but we want to try and qualify for the next round. We want to try.
“(There is a) long time to go, almost a month, but we want to try, so we will play against Fenerbahce with a team with possibilities to beat Fenerbahce.”
When asked on the possibility of bringing the Liverpool game back to Saturday or Sunday, Mourinho said:
“I think it is impossible. The poisoned gift is already there, so what can you do? We just have to play Monday, and then Thursday, and then Stamford Bridge on the Sunday.”
The next month or so could make or break Manchester United’s season.
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