Manchester United won very comfortably at home tonight, 3-0, over FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League group stages. However, it wasn’t their best football in the early going, or even overall in the total effort. Manager Jose Mourinho saw something else entirely, and he was extremely displeased.
He thought once United went up 2-0 in the 53′ they lost focus, not playing as a team, and instead as individuals. He claims his side was no longer playing as a cohesive unit, but instead participating in “fantasy football” and “Play Station football.”
“Three points are important at home. Until 2-0 we were very stable, we played with confidence. After 2-0 everything changed,” Mourinho said.
“We stopped playing, we stopped thinking, we stopped playing seriously, stopped making the right decisions on the pitch. We could have put ourselves in trouble, but they didn’t score and we got the third, but it was bad decisions, fantasy football,” he continued.
“PlayStation football, flicks and tricks. When we stop playing seriously, stop playing as a team, I don’t like it.”
Romelu Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini and Marcus Rashford provided the three goals for United, who lost Paul Pogba to a hamstring injury. Pogba will undergo a scan tomorrow.
United will next host Everton in Premier League play on Sunday. Their next Champions League clash will be on the 27th, when they travel to CSKA Moscow.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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