Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has divulged why six first team players didn’t make the journey to Ukraine to take on Zorya Luhansk in United’s last game in the UEFA Europa league group stage.
The Portuguese manager excluded Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia, Morgan Schneiderlin, Matteo Darmian, Luke Shaw and Memphis Depay from the United squad for the trip to the Chonomorets Stadium.
The Red Devils boss justified his decision by imparting that he left out the aforementioned players in order to protect them. “The players I had to leave out to protect, I left them in Manchester,” said Mourinho. “The ones that I brought, I brought them to play, not to protect them.”
It is obvious that Carrick, Valencia and Darmian are being rested for Sunday’s crunch clash against Tottenham Hotspur, and Depay and Schneiderlin don’t have a significant part in Mourinho’s first team plans anymore. The duo has been linked with moves away from Manchester when the transfer window opens next month. Luke Shaw is still recovering from the injury he picked up during United’s 4-1 win over West Ham in the EFL Cup.
Criticism of UEFA
Mourinho criticised UEFA as he feels it is bizarre to schedule the game in Ukraine in mid-December when the country reels under sub-zero temperatures. “I think UEFA know the conditions of the pitch and everybody knows that in mid-December the conditions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe are more difficult,” opined Mourinho.
“If UEFA are worried about it, they should change the fixtures and not allow them to be played in mid-December. If the fifth fixture is here it’s the end of November and not mid-December, and that’s the problem. The hotel is good, stadium good, pitch bad. But it’s very cold. I know it’s difficult to have a better pitch. The stadium is beautiful and new. The pitch is the same. They are trying,” he added.
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Bad scheduling, says Mourinho
The 53-year-old also reckons there is a chance that the game might be called off. “They are putting some warmth on it, but it’s very difficult and people cannot make miracles,” Mourinho said. “Let’s hope everything goes OK. The pitch is hard and very icy.”
The Portuguese manager also hit out at the Premier League for their reluctance in scheduling Monday night games for his side. “We assumed from the beginning that [the Europa League] was an important competition for us, but difficult because we play Thursday and then Sundays,” said Mourinho.
“We are never given a Monday match to have one more day to rest and prepare, so it's a difficult competition to play, particularly with other massive competitions, but we want to try to win it and we want to go to the knockout stage, then go as far as possible, step by step, and the first step is this game."
The Red Devils had lost on their travels to Feyenoord and Fenerbahce and they need to secure a point against Zorya to ensure their qualification to the knock-out phase of the Europa league.
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