Jose Mourinho acknowledged on Friday Manchester United’s current run of form is unacceptable as he battles to turn around their season.
The 55-year-old Portuguese is under enormous pressure, with United in their worst position after seven league matches since 1989 – they are 10th, nine points adrift of the top two Manchester City and Liverpool – and a public dispute with star player Paul Pogba has sewn discord in the dressing room.
His side are looking to end a run of four home matches without a win – their worst run at Old Trafford for 29 seasons – when they host Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday.
Mourinho seemed to defend United’s performance when he started by saying that the team has tasted “only one defeat at home all season” and “only one defeat in the past seven matches”. He then added, “But no victories at home in the past three matches – three draws. Not the feeling of the defeat, but not the happiness of the victory.”
The Portuguese said it is “very important” for United to try and beat Newcastle on Saturday and was adamant that the team will improve on their current league position of 10th. “Yes, I accept,” he said, when asked if he would admit that United have not been good enough this season. However, he refused to answer when asked if he could assure the fans he was doing everything he could to improve their form.
Mourinho said he could pinpoint the reasons for his team’s uneven form but admitted that improving their home record was “very important”. He said, as quoted by The Guardian, “...we are in a position that we can do much better and to do that we need points; points that we lost especially in the last two Premier League matches with one point out of six.”
He added, “We know that to improve that position we need to win these three points. But we know that our opposition [Newcastle] also need the points. [They have] a very good coach [in Rafa Benitez], a team that is always very well organised against especially the teams of the first part of the table where their manager is very bright on his analysis of the opposition qualities and to try to stop them.”
Mourinho also said there were “many different reasons” as to why United have been misfiring, having scored only 10 goals in seven Premier League matches this season. He was then asked if he could give the reasons, and responded: “No.”
With inputs from AFP
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