For Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, the club’s pre-season tour of the United States has so far been akin to a training session and that’s why he’s not worried after seeing his side draw for the second consecutive time on American soil in a span of a week.
“One more training session,” Mourinho told MUTV after the Red Devils drew 0-0 against San Jose Earthquakes at the Levi’s Stadium in San Jose.
The Portuguese boss has a number of first-team regulars on holiday, forcing him to include a plethora of academy players in the squad for their stateside clashes.
“We are not a team. We’re a group of players from different teams.”
“Some are first-team, some Under-23s, some coming from loans and going on loan, some are younger, Under-18s. We don’t have a team to play much better than we did but (it’s) one more training session,” Mourinho added.
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While the ‘Special One’ is technically correct and has already lamented the Premier LEague’s decision to shift United’s clash with Leicester City to August 10 (Friday night kickoff), fans are already concerned with their side’s form.
They barely managed to hold CF America 1-1, with Juan Mata scoring the equaliser late in the second-half and the fact that the club haven’t set the transfer market alight has only compounded the United faithful’s fears.
“It’s difficult to have 10 players not here. Still, we try to be motivated, you try to motivate the people around you, but it’s not easy.”
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Diogo Dalot (injured till September) and Fred have been the sole outfield acquisitions, with Daley Blind departing for Ajax in the transfer window that is open till August 9.
Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal have all made some smart signings already, but United seem to be lagging behind their rivals and with most of their big-names set to miss the Premier League opener, Mourinho’s men could be in for a rough start to the season.
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“It is strange (not to have the other players) so the motivation is to try to train the best we can, to try to give the players minutes, to try to give the young players an opportunity to develop and that’s it,” the Portuguese tactician stated.