Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho slammed the attitude of his players during the Red Devils’ 3-0 victory over Basel but reserved special praise for the duo of Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini.
Manchester United kicked off their Champions League campaign in fine fashion with a 3-0 victory over Basel at Old Trafford on Tuesday night and it has to be said that the Red Devils put up a very impressive performance during the encounter.
Despite the comfortable victory though, manager Jose Mourinho was not completely satisfied and went on to slam the attitude of some of his players for taking things lightly after United took a two goal lead in the second half.
He said, “Three points are important at home. Until 2-0 we were very stable, we played with confidence. After 2-0 everything changed, we stopped playing seriously and stopped making right decisions. We could have put ourselves in trouble.
“We were playing fantasy football, Playstation football. I don’t like it, flicks and tricks. We gambled and you have to respect your opponent. I don’t know if goal difference will play a part. We lost position, our shape, we lost balls in easy situations. I didn’t like it, the players relaxed too much.”
Nonetheless, Mourinho was particularly pleased with the performances of Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini during the night and reserved special praise for the duo.
Mourinho said of Young, “He was impressive but not a surprise. I play him in a Champions League match and I left Antonio Valencia on the bench because I know what he could do and what he did was not different when I played him last season in so many positions.
“He’s always positive in his answer, he had the big injury last year, surgery, recovery, but he’s really intense, his approach is intense every training session.
“I was not sure [he would play] 90 minutes but i knew that 60 or 70 minutes he could do the same kind of football Antonio Valencia does, which is an attacking full-back.”
Mourinho then hailed Fellaini saying, “To remember a Fellaini bad performance I have to go back to last season. But in the beginnings, and it was not even a bad performance, it was a naive mistake when he made a penalty in the last minute at Goodison Park.
“Apart from that, Fellaini contributions to my team are always positive, when he starts, when he’s on the bench. He’s very important.”
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