Sports

Jose Mourinho accuses Manchester United Players of Playstation Football

Published

7 years ago

September 13, 2017

Jose Mourinho accused his Manchester United side of disrespecting Basel in their Champions League opener, saying they were more interested in “PlayStation football” than being professional.

Goals from Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku had given United a comfortable 2-0 lead inside an hour at Old Trafford on Tuesday night but what the manager saw after that left him far from impressed.

He said: “After 2-0, I think everything changed and we stopped to play, stopped to think, stopped to play seriously. We stopped to make the right decisions on the pitch and we could put ourselves in trouble.

“Bad decisions, fantasy football, PlayStation football, tricks and when you stopped to play as a team and when you stopped to play seriously I don’t like and you gamble a little bit.

“The players probably felt that the game was under control with the 2-0 but football is football and you have to respect your opponent.”

Substitute Marcus Rashford added a third goal six minutes from time on a comfortable night for the three-time European champions.

However, Mourinho insists that United are not among the front-runners to claim the Champions League crown ahead of the ‘big guys’ in Kiev on May 26.

He said: “For these teams – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich – the Champions League starts in February. Now is just the warm-up.

“In February, when us English teams are trying to survive after the winter period, they are fresh and ready after this warm-up.

“We are in the second level. The second level is “let’s qualify, let’s make the points” and if we make the knockout phase let’s enjoy playing against the big guys.”