‘Too many attacking players’ in United team for Jose

Michael Graham

Jose Mourinho has admitted that opponents Brighton didn’t deserve to lose as they went down 1-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Lewis Dunk’s own goal in the second half was enough to give United a vital home win which moves them four points clear of third-placed Chelsea, who play on Saturday evening.

“I want to be honest and give them what they deserve, for me probably they deserve more than the result they got,” Mourinho admitted.

“They played really well, they had a good defensive organisation and then when they had the ball they were dangerous. Honestly I think Brighton was very, very good.

“I think we were more spirit and heart than quality. Sometimes to play with too many attacking players doesn’t mean you are offensive. We had a lot of attacking players on the pitch but we lose a bit of control in midfield.

Mourinho was asked if he regrets his selection: “No I don’t regret because I picked them against Newcastle and we won 4-1. It is the reality of football sometimes, to have too many attacking players on the pitch, sometimes you lose balance and don’t create many chances.

“We play amazingly well in the first half against Basel and we lost so the most important thing are the points.”

The Portuguese boss continued: “They gave us probably the hardest match we’ve had this season. We had amazing chances a couple of days ago and we couldn’t score, today we did it.

“Congratulations to them for their performance, congratulations to my boys. My boys they didn’t play well but they gave everything. The boys they don’t deserve bad words from me.”