MOURINHO REACTS TO WIN OVER SAINT-ETIENNE

MOURINHO REACTS TO WIN OVER SAINT-ETIENNE

Manchester United secured a 3-0 win over Saint-Etienne in Thursday's Europa League Round of 32 first-leg tie at Old Trafford and Jose Mourinho was clearly satisfied with the result.
Here are the main points from the manager's MUTV interview following the final whistle...

ASSESSMENT OF THE RESULT

"The result is really good, especially after a first half when we didn't play well - far from it. It is a really good result but it is not over, it is still dangerous."

WORDS AT HALF-TIME

"My first message was that it is impossible to play football at a high level without concentration, without intensity. That was the first message. After that I went through a couple of tactical details, I changed the team a little bit, but the most important thing was really the attitude because we started the game with an immediate back-pass to a striker to face Romero in a one-against-one, so we started pretty badly."

PRAISE FOR THE HAT-TRICK HERO

"He has scored so many hat-tricks in his career but this is a first for Manchester United. We know that it is more difficult in England, we know clearly that it is fantastic for him, but the important thing is the result and the important thing is that we managed a clean sheet at home, which is important, and to score three goals is a good advantage for us. We can try to manage with that."

THE TIE IS NOT OVER

"I've had crazy experiences in football. I was losing against Tottenham once, 3-0 at half-time, and we drew 3-3. I was winning, it was Real Madrid against Galatasaray, we won 3-0 at home and then were losing 3-1 in Istanbul [the tie ended in a 5-3 aggregate win for Real]. I have been through so many crazy experiences that I believe in anything. We have to go there, defend well, not concede and try to score a goal that will put them in a very difficult situation.

Jose Moorings, feels United could be in trouble

Manchester United Manager, Jose Mourinho, has admitted they could be in “trouble” with their fixture pile-up.

United welcome St Etienne in the first leg of their last 32 Europa League tie this Thursday and then Blackburn in the FA Cup on Sunday.

The Red Devils’ game against Manchester City, has already been moved becasue they will play in the EFL Cup final next Sunday.

If Mourinho’s men beat Blackburn in the FA Cup, their Premier League clash at Southampton on March 12 will also be postponed.

The former Chelsea boss says this could lead to a difficult end of the season.

“We cannot choose competitions at Manchester United,” Mourinho said while facing the media on Wednesday.

“We know that our situation is really complicated. “We know that the Europa League is also a competition where we pay on Thursdays and that makes it even more difficult for us.

“The accumulation of FA Cup and League Cup and the match postponements makes it really hard for us.

“If we progress in the competitions we will be in trouble in May. We cannot choose competitions, we play them to win.

“It’s also a good way to give the team experience – international experience is always a plus.

“The Europa League is not a competition we want to play, but it’s a competition we play and we respect it. We are in a good phase, we work hard and progress.

“There was a difficult moment for us when we lost two away matches, but then we managed to play with our best teams and tried to progress which we did.

“The plus is that it’s another opportunity to qualify for the Champions League.

“We have two doors still open. One is the Europa League, but we know we’re in the last 32, not even the last eight or four, so there’s a long way to go.

“In the Premier League the door is also open, but we still have a long way to go.”