Jose Mourinho felt Brighton & Hove Albion’s desire made the difference as his Manchester United were beaten 1-0 by the Seagulls on Friday night.
Defeat in the Reds’ first ever visit to the Amex Stadium was inflicted by Pascal Gross’s header in the 57th minute, as the hosts secured a second successive season in the top flight.
Here are the main points from the manager’s post-match interview with Sky Sports…
WE WEREN’T GOOD ENOUGH
“Not good enough, because the players that replaced others didn’t perform at a good level and when individuals don’t perform at a good level, it’s difficult for the team to perform at a good level. Maybe now you understand why some players play more than others and you don’t ask why A, B or C don’t play more.”
BRIGHTON HAD DIFFERENT EMOTIONS
“My players, if you ask them, they will tell you that I told them before the match what was going to happen and I told them at half-time what was going to happen. I knew it and I told them, but that’s what we got. Of course, we had a positive reaction in the last 20 minutes. But that’s obviously normal because nobody likes to lose and when you are losing the game, you always try and when a team that is winning can feel that victory is so important for them, it’s normal that they feel a bit of pressure and in the end they defended more and gave the ball more to the opponent. That’s what happened – it’s normal and we couldn’t score a goal and get a point. Overall, and especially during the first half, they were obviously stronger than us, with more appetite. They felt the game with different emotions.”
FINISHING SECOND IS IMPORTANT TO ME
“I didn’t succeed in persuading my players that getting the four points we need to finish second is important. For me, it is, but for some of my players, it doesn’t look like it’s very important and obviously, for the Brighton boys, a point would probably be enough for them and means a lot to them to give absolutely everything they had to give. They got the bonus of their attitude.”
WE MUST TRY TO GET FOUR MORE POINTS
“I wouldn’t say I am disappointed because I know them [the players] but for some of them, the possibility to start the game, the possibility to give reason to the ones that during the season are always critical towards my choices – why always Lukaku, why always Lukaku, why always Lukaku. Now you have the answer why always Lukaku. Why always this? Why always that? You have the answer. Probably we are not as good individually as people think and I keep saying that to finish in the top four is great and it’s more than great if we finish second, but now we need four points and we must try to get them.”
