José Mourinho is clear the Europa League is not the "big dream" for his Manchester United players, but he says he wants to win it even though he is concerned the competition could compromise his side's Premier League title challenge.
United play Feyenoord in Rotterdam today in the opening match of the group phase.
Mourinho left Wayne Rooney out of the 20-man squad along with Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard. After a first league defeat in the 2-1 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday, the manager said all were being rested before the trip to Watford on Sunday.
He offered an honest assessment of the continent’s second club tournament. “This is not a competition that Manchester United wants. It is not a competition I want, it is not a competition the players want.
Reality
“It is a competition where we are, and that’s the reality. Tomorrow is an important match for us. We must find that motivation that I found myself already, and I have to pass that motivation on to the players because I know the Europa League is not the big dream of every big player.”
The last time Mourinho managed in the competition he won it with Porto in 2003 when it was the Uefa Cup.
"You are not in the Champions League so you have to find your motivation in the competition you are in," he said.
“My message to the players is with the players I bring. I bring a very good squad and I’m going to play with a very good team. I think that’s the message I want to give them.
“To lose, we bring kids – we instead give experience to kids, chances to [Axel] Tuanzebe and other great boys in the squad – but maybe that would be the wrong message for me to give to my players. We try to win the match, and play with what we think is the best team.”
Warning
Mourinho, who included David de Gea,
Marcus Rashford
and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
in the squad that travelled, cited the 2-1 defeat at Midtjylland in the last-32 stage last season as a warning.
“It’s a big club and the next match is always important when you play for Man United. The players must realise that. What happened last season, for example, in Midtjylland is something you don’t forget as a fan. Maybe you forget as a player. We have to make sure we’re not sleeping and losing before the match starts because many times you start losing before the match starts because you don’t find the right motivation and attitude.”
Mourinho believes playing Europa League games on a Thursday will hamper United’s prospects of a 21st championship. “It’s more difficult, yes. Especially because you also have the chance to play on the Monday. But since the beginning of the season until we get the fixtures, we didn’t get that privilege. So when we play Thursday we were never given a Monday spot to have one more day.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has a thigh problem, and Phil Jones, who has a knee injury that rules him out for a month, have also not travelled. Guardian Service
