Jose Mourinho claimed some of his Manchester United players lack “technical quality” and “intensity” after their goalless Champions League draw with Valencia.
United’s winless run stretched to four games on Tuesday night as they failed to break down their La Liga opponents and ease the mounting pressure on Mourinho.
The United manager hailed the efforts of his players, having criticised their attitude on several occasions over the past week, but still made several veiled criticisms of his squad in post-match interviews.
Speaking to BT Sport, Mourinho said: “The players tried. They raised the level of their efforts. They raised the level of their intensity in spite of the fact we don’t have many with that intensity.
“We tried to play but in some crucial positions in the building up phase we don’t have the technical quality to build from the back.”
The United manager added: “We tried to do something we did well which was to stop a fast team on the counter-attack. We knew we wouldn’t create 20 chances.
“Our attacking players aren’t in their best moments of confidence and individual level. We thought with three or four chances we would score and win the game.”
Mourinho was coy when asked in his post-match press conference whether a lack of confidence among his players had prevented them from beating Valencia.
The Portuguese appeared to suggest that last season’s second-place Premier League finish was a “fantastic” achievement, given the limited abilities of his players.
“I think there are things that is difficult for me to say and if I say it’s not good for me,” he said. “Even yourself would be getting another reason to criticise me. I think you have had enough.
“I prefer just to say when last season we finish second, runners-up in the FA Cup, we won our group in the Champions League, I told was a fantastic season and I knew why I was saying that.”
The goalless draw leaves United with four points and in second place in Group H, with a doubleheader against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus to come.
“It is a not a bad result,” Mourinho insisted. “Not a good result, but not bad. We have two matches against Juventus to make points. It is a very difficult group, yes.”
