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https://www.manutd.com/en/events/liveevents?eventtag=09082018MourinhoLiveFollowthepressconference
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https://www.manutd.com/en/events/liveevents?eventtag=09082018MourinhoLiveFollowthepressconference
An update on the squad's fitness
“There are no miracles. The players with a proper pre-season, they are fit and they are strong. For example, Alexis has played lots of matches and lots of minutes, he is more than ready. But you cannot have the players that arrived on the last Monday, after World Cup semi-finals, finals and three weeks of holidays, you cannot expect them to be fit.
"Apart from that, we have some injuries. Some are expected and some are unexpected. Matic, we weren't expecting him to be injured and needing a surgery after the World Cup. Dalot, we knew he had surgery on his meniscus and we have to wait a couple of months before he is ready.”
My aims for this season
“The target is the Leicester match and the tactics to be changed - in Championship Manager you can just press a button. In football, you need time to work and you need players on the pitch to work with which we didn't have until now. I said that during pre-season - it looked like I was saying something absolutely out of order, it looked like I was saying something crazy – but I repeat, pre-season is difficult when you don't have your players to work with. It's as simple as that.”
The media is hard to believe
“It is difficult for me to believe that we finished second. When I listen, when I read, not much but sometimes I do, it's difficult to believe that we finished second because you [the media] are capable of making people finish second look like they were relegated and you're capable of making people who win nothing and finish below us look like serial winners… Sometimes it's difficult to believe - I won eight championships and three Premier Leagues, but I keep saying, thinking and feeling that the second position last season was one of my biggest achievements in the game.”
Time to stop thinking about transfers
“I'm not confident and the market closes today, so it's time - at least for me - to stop thinking about the market because the market will be closed, so I will have to focus on the players I have in relation to this first couple of matches, maybe three matches, because after Spurs there is an international break. It gives us a couple of weeks to recover people, to prepare people better and to focus on the players that are available, so I'm not even thinking about that list of players I gave you - Matic, Valencia and so on. I focus just on what we have and we go with everything to the first match.”
My World Cup stars may not be fit
“They returned on Monday. They trained on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and today, so you can imagine that they're not really fit and ready, but we have needs. The list that I gave you before of the injured players is an important list and today after training I will speak with that group of players because everybody is different - physically and mentally - to see how available they feel they are. Their feeling is very important and to understand how they think they can help or not help.”
Several players are injured
“Unavailable is Romero - he had a surgery after his injury before the World Cup. Valencia - he was injured in pre-season. Marcos Rojo - he was injured in the World Cup. Dalot - he had a surgery at Porto by the end of April and he is not yet ready. Ander Herrera - injured against Bayern. Matic - injured in the World Cup and surgery in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago. I think that's it.”
We are ready for Friday night
“It's a match, an important match. We would prefer to have a couple of more days, but the decision was [for us] to be the first to play and that's it. We are ready.”
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Martial's Munich absence
He didn't have a pre-season. He had three days, he didn't have nine days. No training, no football, absolutely nothing. So Tony is in the group of players that didn't have a pre-season. You tried to make a case on it. There is no case on it. For nine days he didn't train, so it's like to start again. You have to go back. You have to start with the other players.
What if no transfers?
I have my players. I like my players. I like to work with my players. One lie repeated 1,000 times is still a lie. But the perception of the people is that it's true, but it's still a lie. So when you repeat 1,000 times that the relationship with my players is not good, it is a lie. But again the perception of the people that read is different. But I like my players. I like my group. I enjoyed the last season's fight to finish where we did and to manage the best position for the club for the last five years. I'm going to enjoy this season again. I know the words you want me to say. Words for me don't come easy. I think by the end of November or December you will see which teams are candidates to win the Premier League. In this moment, words are not important. Let's play football.
on Paul Pogba
He arrived on Monday, happy, proud, with desire to work. He worked amazingly well on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He's one of the players I need to speak to to see how physically and mentally strong he feels. It's the same conversation that I'm going to have with Young, Fellaini, Lingard to know how they feel to try to give us the help. If they feel they can help us, if it's 20 minutes, 10 minutes, half an hour. We don't have many solutions and we want to go with everything we have. The way I see Paul is well, is very well, but we need the words with that small group to see if they can give us a hand. It's an important match tomorrow. Every point is important. We have to try the best with every player.
on early World Cup returnees
If they play tomorrow, they play after four days, so that's why I'm saying it. One thing is what you can expect from players with another pre-season, and another thing is what you can expect from players with three or four days training. Of course I prefer to look to the bench and to have them, than to have 16-year-old boys without the experience and power to be a Premier League. So yes, I prefer to have them even if they are not top [condition]. I believe other managers in the same situation have the same feeling as what I have. At least on the bench, it's one more option.
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