Jose Mourinho hands out a scathing warning to players after embarrassing Brighton defeat

Jose Mourinho issued a warning to his Manchester United after their 1-0 loss to Brighton on Friday. The Manchester United boss wasn’t happy with how the stand-in players reacted to being handed a start.

Manchester United started the game well, Marouane Fellaini deflecting the ball home after Marcus Rashford’s free kick, however, it was ruled out for offside. After that, Brighton dominated and deservedly took the lead in the 57th minute through Pascal Gross.

It was United’s performance which disappointed Mourinho most. They constantly gave the ball away in the first half, controlling the ball unsuccessfully 17 times.

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Therefore, in his post-match interview, Mourinho hoped people would now understand why he plays certain players more frequently after his stand-in players were, “not good enough”. The Portuguese boss also said, for the second time in a month (other vs West Brom), he knew “what was going to happen”.

Mourinho spoke to Geoff Shreeves of Sky Sports after the game:

"“Not good enough. The players that replace others didn’t perform at a good level and when individuals do not perform at a good level it’s difficult for the team to perform at a good level. So maybe now you understand why some players play more than others and you understand why A, B and C don’t play more.“They (his players) will tell you that I told them before the match what was going to happen. I told them at half-time what was going to happen. I knew it, I knew it, I told them but that (the loss) is what we got."

An opportunity missed for some fringe players

Geoff Shreeves then asked Mourinho how he felt. Whether he was angry, disappointed, surprised especially with the chance to play at an FA Cup final on the horizon. But Mourinho said he thought his players would relish the chance.

"“No, I wouldn’t say disappointed because I know them. But I thought for some of them the possibility to start the game, the possibility to give reason to the ones who are always critic to my choices: ‘Why always Lukaku? Why always Lukaku? Why always Lukaku?’. You have the answer. Probably we are not as good individually as people think we are. So I keep saying if we manage to finish second it’s great, more than great."

Next: Brighton 1-0 Manchester United review

Mourinho also delved into the specifics of the performance claiming his teams’ attitude from the first minute to the last was below par. Brighton deserved the win.

"“Overall attitude from the first minute, especially in the first half, they were stronger than us. More appetite, they felt the game with different emotions. I didn’t succeed in persuading the players that the four points we need to finish seconds doesn’t look very important to my payers. For me it is but for some of my players, it doesn’t look like it’s very important.”"