Mourinho Reacts To Community Shield Win

Manchester United lifted a trophy following Jose Mourinho's first competitive match as manager and, naturally, the boss as delighted with his players at Wembley Stadium.
Here are the key quotes from his interviews with BT Sport and MUTV and post-match press conference...


ON UNITED’S PERFORMANCE
"The first half was much better than the second which doesn't surprise me because the team is not fit enough and in condition to keep the stability in the game. In the second half when they increased the pace by bringing on three quick players in Gray and Musah plus Vardy, they changed the game to their style. I think it's an important victory but of course we have lots of work to do. I would be not ambitious if I say that we had a fantastic performance because it was not a fantastic performance. It was a possible performance for this moment of the season. Some of these guys today they have one week of training - Martial, Ibrahimovic, Fellaini. The other ones had two weeks, no pre-season in China, a very bad pre-season, so I think step by step we are changing, but I think it's always important to start with a trophy.

"The first half was really good, very solid, very dominating, we were very comfortable in the game. In the second half we felt the change of speed, we felt Musa, Gray and Vardy together against a team (that’s) a bit tired but then we recovered control of the game when Mata and Herrera came on. We recovered control of the game and we scored an important goal to win us the match."

ON SCORERS LINGARD AND IBRAHIMOVIC
“Zlatan will be more dangerous when we are more dominant and play closest to the box. Zlatan is not a very fast player to play 50 metres away from the box like where Vardy can be dangerous. Zlatan needs the team to play, he needs the team to produce and he needs the team to be arriving in the final third. It's something that we also have to change because the profile of this team was more about possession of the ball. Even arriving in crossing positions, the team normally plays back again and tries to change to the other side. We are trying to change. The reality is the second goal is a great example of that.”

ON FELLAINI’S PASS THAT LED TO VARDY’S GOAL
“I think it's the mistake of the slow pitch. Before the game starts I put my hand on the surface and I thought, 'Wow, we are in trouble because we want a fast pitch and the pitch is really slow.' Good pitch but slow. I don't know if they put water on and the atmosphere killed the water immediately or if they forgot to do it but the reality is it was very slow. So Marouane gives a backpass and the ball slowed down and Vardy smells everything and is really fast. I think Bailly is the perfect opponent for people like they have because he is as fast as they are. I know the player he is but you always have a little question mark when a player comes from a completely different level and plays his first match for Manchester United officially at Wembley with these responsibilities, without Smalling. The way he played I think he was really good but I have to say Daley also gave him the stability he needs.”

FIRST TROPHY - THANKS TO MY PREDECESSOR
"I have to thank Mr van Gaal because without the victory in the FA Cup we wouldn’t be here today so I am getting a trophy for the club and the boys and the fans and myself but I’m playing this match not because I won the FA Cup, I play this match because Mr van Gaal won the FA Cup so congratulations to him because he’s part of this. I think it's nice and the spirit is good and to play against a team that is an end product, a team that is working together and plays exactly the same team as they had last season just without Kante and King playing instead. Leicester know the team they are and they are very automatic. We are in a process. We are changing the manager. We are changing a few players, we are trying to change the style of play, the principles of play so I think [the victory] was good."

MORE ON THE NEW SIGNINGS
"Eric (Bailly) is working since day one, he started the pre-season with us, he played matches, he’s fit so I knew that with him it's just a question of his personality allowing him this big move from Villarreal to Man United to Wembley. It was just that. He was super comfortable so no doubt that he’s a man for us. Zlatan is tired. I think he’s tired even before the game starts so (he’s) a bit slow, lacks a bit of sharpness but then we have one cross, one header, one goal, one trophy."

POGBA MEDICAL ARRANGED
"He (Pogba) is a fantastic player. If everything goes well he’s a very important player but we have a great squad. We left today 7 players out of the group, and they are very good players that work so hard to be (very good), so we have the options, we have the players, we have the squad. I think we are getting the mentality and the most difficult thing is the principles of play that we are changing step by step but I saw today, especially the team as a defensive unit, very compact, an outstanding zonal game, not following man to man all over the place, not opening gaps, I think the team was very compact by the defensive point of view."

THE PERFECT CLUB FOR POGBA
"I think United is the perfect club to bring him to the level that he wants to be. The Premier League is the perfect habitat for that. If you want to be the best player in the world I think if you go to Barcelona, to Real Madrid you are in trouble because I don't think the other big guys will let you into that level. Here he has the conditions - the most seen championship worldwide which is absolutely incredible, with a team that wants to bring Man United to the top again. So we have everything to give him and we know the reasons why he wanted to come to us. Money, he would get from many big clubs so that's not the point. He comes because he knows the club, he knows the city, he knows many of the players, he wants to be an important part of the Man United project so hopefully everything goes well and he comes to our team."

WOULD A WORLD RECORD FEE BOTHER YOU?
“No, I don’t think Real Madrid was upset when they broke the record with Gareth Bale or when they broke the record with Cristiano [Ronaldo], I think that was a world record too. When other people break records, I don’t think it’s a reason to be sad. I think it’s a reason to be proud with the dimension of the club that can do that and can attract players of this dimension. If you ask if I think it is a lot of money, I think football is crazy, the market has become crazy. What you think this season is crazy, you realise that three years later it’s not crazy any more. And I think there are players that cost ten  million that are super expensive because there are players who are four hundred or five hundred thousand or one million. What is expensive and what is not expensive in football, I don’t know any more. I just know that he’s a big player that is going for sure to be important for a big club like Man United. And I’m sure that every Man United fan around the world will be proud to belong to such a big club.”

FREE WEEK BEFORE FIRST LEAGUE GAME
"It's very important, very important. One day to rest, one week to work. The fact we play Sunday gives us one extra day, it’s a very important week, we have no injuries, of course we have a suspension with Smalling but we have no injuries. I think Lingard must not have anything really serious so we are in good condition to work but of course there is a long way to go [in the season]."

AMBITION FOR THE SEASON
"My ambition is a stupid ambition, I have to confess, because it is an impossible ambition. But my ambition is to win every game. So my ambition now is to win against Bournemouth. Very difficult. Can we win? We have to think about that. After Bournemouth, it doesn't matter the result, we play against Southampton and we want to win. We want to win every game. It's a very stupid motivation but if you look in a different perspective, it's what we have to do. Improve, improve, improve. Every match, we try to win."