Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes some of his players were not mentally prepared for the tempo Saturday’s Manchester Derby was played at.
United looked a fraction off the pace in the first half and paid the price, going into the half-time break two goals in arrears after Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho netted in the 15th and 36th minutes.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic would peg one back for the Red Devils but it was not enough, with City hanging on for a 2-1 away win.
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Mourinho admitted his team started poorly, putting it down to mental fragility.
“In the first half they were much better than us, we started the game badly,” Mourinho told Sky Sports after the game.
“We started the game with some players really below their normal level in terms of their concentration of their mental availability to play a game of this speed because you need to be sharp in the way you think, the way you play.
“We had a few players below the level and the team paid for it.
“In the first half, they were in control … the second half was completely different (to the first half).
“When they played Fernando immediately after a couple of minutes, it is because they felt what everyone was thinking: we were in control, we were much more dangerous.
“We had our chances to equalise.”
Mourinho shouldered some of the blame for his team selection, admitting he may not have selected the same “two or three players” who left him underwhelmed.
“I had two or three players that, in the first half, if the game was now and I knew what was going to happen, I don’t play them.
“But this is football and sometimes players, they disappoint managers, and sometimes they give us great surprises.
“We could hurt them playing with some individuals with qualities that didn’t give me what I want.
“Is it their fault? Is it my fault?
“It is my fault because I am the manager and it was my choice.”
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