Mourinho slams United players for being “too relaxed” against St Etienne

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Mourinho slams United players for being “too relaxed” against St Etienne

Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, has criticized his players’ attitude despite their 3-0 win over St Etienne in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Mourinho accused his players of lacking the needed focus, in the first leg of their round of 32 clash at Old Trafford.

When asked afterwards if he was happy with the result, the former Chelsea boss said: “I am – especially because in the first half, we played so bad, and we managed to finish it winning 1-0 when we don’t deserve. It was down to lack of concentration.

“I had the feeling immediately in the dressing room — too noisy, too funny, too relaxed. Then my assistants had the feeling in the warm-up, with some of the guys not really focused on the getting the right adrenaline in their bodies.

“Then the game started and the first thing we did was a back-pass [by Eric Bailly] to the striker [Romain Hamouma] to be face-to-face with Sergio [Romero].

“So, lack of concentration. And when you don’t have it, it’s difficult to recover it. So in the first half was hard.

“Even myself on the touchline, I felt it was difficult, the communication. I needed the half-time. So we were lucky, yes, to be winning 1-0.

“I am not happy with it. At half-time, the result could be 1-1. I always think we have to play every game with the same attitude.”

Mourinho admitted that the poor attitude might be due to the fact that it was the Europa League and not the Champions League.

He said: “I know Champions League is the competition everyone wants to play, everyone wants to win, I know that. But we don’t play Champions League, we play Europa League.

“I think in the first half, it was too relaxed. Then, St Etienne were in the game with the right attitude and intensity, and they created problems.

“We don’t play Champions League, so if that is the case I would prefer to play in the Europa League than be at home watching TV. So I think with the players it is the same.”