‘No personality, no class, scared’ Mourinho blasts Man United
Manchester United's Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku (C) scores the team's first goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Manchester United and Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on March 17, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Oli SCARFF / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / Manchester : Jose Mourinho launched an astonishing verbal tirade against his Manchester United players after they reached the FA Cup semi-finals, accusing them of “a lack of personality, lack of class and lack of desire.”
Just 24 hours after the United manager had made a memorable defence of his own record in the pre-match press conference, Mourinho turned his attention to his players after a comfortable 2-0 quarter-final victory over Brighton.
Only Nemanja Matic, who set up the opening goal for Romelu Lukaku before scoring a late second himself, and youngster Scott McTominay were spared massive criticism.
And after Mourinho claimed he was looking for a response to the midweek Champions League exit to Sevilla, the Portuguese veteran even claimed some of his players lacked the personality and desire to play for the famous Premier League club.
“I didn’t like the game,” said Mourinho. “I think we deserved to win but I didn’t have the reaction from all of them.
“I had the reaction from some of them. Some of them were mentally strong enough with the football quality to play — that was the reason we won.
“But a team of 11, when you have a minimum of six or seven players performing and wanting to play, who want the responsibility to have the ball, who have the desire really to play — it is difficult to have a good performance.
“So I am not happy with the performance all all. But I am happy with the result.”
England full-back Luke Shaw was the one player named by Mourinho as having failed to follow his game plan and was, accordingly, substituted at half-time.
That made Shaw an obvious target for Mourinho to be questioned about although the United manager clearly had other players in mind when issuing his widespread critique.
“I wanted more personality in the team because many, many times I felt that Matic was an island of personality, desire and control surrounded by lack of personality, lack of class and lack of desire.
“I have to say that for example McTominay lost more passes today in all the matches he played put together but he was a Manchester United player.
“And for me a Manchester United player is one who when he plays badly still gives to the team. That is a question of personality, that is a Manchester United player for me. And that is what some of the others did not have.”
Mourinho had hinted before the game that many of his stars are currently under-performing and, tellingly, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez were both left out of his starting line-up.
But the United manager’s response to what was, after all, a comfortable victory was an astonishing psychological tactic that may, ultimately, backfire — a point that Mourinho accepted when asked why he had made such a calculated outburst.
“My calculation is that without pressure, they don’t perform well. What can I lose?” he said.
“And the ones that are always there are the ones that will always be there. And that is an example of personality.
“You have the kid that didn’t play well at all (McTominay). I told him already, he was the first one I spoke to individually in the dressing room.