Man Utd Boss Jose Mourinho Laments 'Poisoned Gift' October Schedule After Zorya Win

Published on: 29 September 2016

"?Jose Mourinho has lamented his Manchester United side's packed fixture schedule that follows the next international break.


"?Mourinho described the encounter with Liverpool, which takes place on Monday October 17, as a "poisoned gift" after his players pondered their way to a 1-0 Europa league victory over Ukrainian minnows Zorya Luhansk.


United face the away trip to Anfield, as well as matches against Fenerbahce, Chelsea and city rivals Manchester City in a crunch two week period for the club.

And Mourinho was less than impressed with the manner in which the fixture list had been drawn up by the powers that be.


He said: "We could have played Liverpool on the Saturday or on the Sunday. We play Liverpool on the Monday, so maybe we don't have the best conditions.


"We have this kind of poisoned gift of playing on a Monday, which creates a very difficult situation."

Jose Mourinho complains Manchester United's fixture list is a "?poisoned gift' https://t.co/c5JDYVMarB

"?The Portuguese manager stated that he was "not over the moon" despite his side recording three successive victories in the space of a week.


Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to United's rescue with a 69th minute header to eek out a slender win over Luhansk at Old Trafford, with the home side struggling to fashion many clear-cut opportunities against their opponents.


The win added to United's 3-1 EFL Cup triumph at Northampton Town and their 4-1 thrashing of league champions Leicester City over the past seven days.

After the game, however, Mourinho insisted that he would not get carried away with his squad's return to form - just as he didn't get too down after the Red Devils suffered three defeats in a row before their run of victories.


He continued: "One week, three defeats. One week, three victories. But I was not depressed by the defeats and I am not over the moon with three wins.


"It was difficult. We had our chances in the first half, we could have scored and it would have been a different match. But we didn't.

"They kept organised and had plenty of players behind the ball but with players ready to do something on the counter attack. It was difficult and we needed to win."


The ex-Chelsea boss also revealed "?why he launched a stinging tirade at his coaching team during the triumph on Thursday.


Mourinho was seen remonstrating with his own staff as they briefed substitute Paul Pogba over a tactical gameplan, and the 53-year-old stated that he was unhappy that his team had confused the midfielder over his role when the France international took to the field.


He added: "It was set pieces, organisation. They changed their team before the game, Paul was a bit confused with the changes, obviously, I want my assistants to take care of all the details."

Pogba and Mourinho about to drop the biggest album of 2016 pic.twitter.com/wdtasjWzqF

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