“What do you want me to talk about?”
Following the full-time whistle in the goalless Premier League draw between Manchester United and Southampton, the first thought of many people watching was to wonder what excuse Jose Mourinho would offer.
In recent weeks, the United manager has hit out at his players, blamed referees and said the richest club in the world can’t financially compete with Manchester City, because their rivals pay “striker money for full-backs.” The fact that the two teams have identical wage bills – which is the key determinant in where a side finishes in the league – hasn’t been mentioned by the former Chelsea boss. United are now in third place, a point behind Chelsea and 14 points behind City, and are without a win in four games.
The Belgian suffered a nasty clash of heads early on in today's match https://t.co/xcZ39KrZ6M
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) December 30, 2017
In the last week, Mourinho’s team have drawn games with Leicester City, Burnley and Southampton. The Saints had failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 games before Saturday’s match at Old Trafford, but could have left the ground with a win.
After watching his team struggle to create many chances of note, Mourinho opened his post-match interview with BT Sport by speaking about the referee Craig Pawson, which will be a surprise to no-one.
"What do you want me to talk about?" 🤔
Jose Mourinho isn't happy with the officials following Man Utd 0-0 Southampton 👀@deskellybts 🎙 pic.twitter.com/raluBfxNlT
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 30, 2017
The referee didn’t award United a penalty for an apparent hand-ball in the first-half. However, surely a team that has spent £600m on transfers in the last four years shouldn’t be so reliant on a referee’s decision?
Mourinho also spoke about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is expected to miss a month with injury, and Romelu Lukaku, who was stretchered off during the first half of United’s goalless draw.
Jose Mourinho confirms Zlatan Ibrahimovic is injured again 😞@deskellybts: "So you're down to Martial and Rashford?" 🎙 pic.twitter.com/M3Q64PpHlE
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 30, 2017
