Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho fumed as his side suffered an early lead in Wednesday’s defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, calling the performance “especially ridiculous”, reports talkSPORT.
The Red Devils fell behind to Spurs after just 11 seconds, with Christian Eriksen putting the hosts ahead before United had even touched the ball. The visitors went on to lose the game 2-0 at Wembley, and Mourinho wasn’t happy.
“I don’t think it is very normal to concede a goal like we did after 15 seconds,” he said. “It is especially ridiculous because the players, they watch it before, we analyse opponents and work on opponents’ dynamics and routines.”
Mourinho noted down each mistake his side made that led to Tottenham opening the scoring so early into Wednesday’s encounter, citing a failure to press the ball, win the aerial battle, win the second ball in the area and block Eriksen from scoring.
“The players they knew the long ball, they knew that Harry Kane – before the kick-off, is already inside the opponent’s half. We knew everything,” he added.
“Then we don’t press the ball; one mistake. We don’t pick the ball in the air; second mistake. We don’t win the second ball on the ground; third mistake. We don’t cover the inside when Eriksen comes; four mistakes.
“Four mistakes after 15 seconds and you are losing 1-0 against a good team. Then I think [we had] a good reaction.”
Phil Jones went on to score an own goal inside of half an hour, leaving United with a mountain to climb away to Tottenham. The defeat leaves Mourinho’s men second in the table but 15 points adrift of leaders and fierce rivals Manchester City after 25 games.
It’s United’s fourth Premier League defeat of the season, ending an eight-game unbeaten run. They next welcome an out-of-form Huddersfield Town side to Old Trafford, and will fancy their chances of picking up all three points – the Terriers have suffered four consecutive defeats and haven’t won in their last seven games.
Any chance of winning the Premier League title looks all but lost for United, but ensuring they can stay second come May is the next best thing.
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