Mourinho Post Match Comments

[bosnian_red]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...inho-guardiola-11869290#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Jose Mourinho has revealed some of his Manchester United players failed to carry out his instructions during the derby defeat to City.

United were overwhelmed in a forlorn first-half against their neighbours, who were utterly dominant until Claudio Bravo gifted Zlatan Ibrahimovic a goal.

Mourinho admitted he was 'disappointed' with some individual performers and felt the magnitude of the game affected certain players' focus.

"What I said at half-time I told them in the last three days, instead of 10 minutes, much more," Mourinho explained. "So every time we were preparing the game and every time we were analysing and trying to reduce the unpredictability of the game, we spoke about this situations.

"What I told them at half-time was for some of you it looks like you are trying to do what I told you not to do. And it was this: I told 20 times today never play the first station ball, never, never play because it's where they want to press. It happened 20 times during the game.

"So I think some of the boys, they felt the dimension of the game, they felt the dimension of the game, everything around the game, the derby, the big game, Man United v Man City, the focus, the attention, I felt that some of the guys felt it."

Mourinho also dismissed the suggestion experience had trumped certain players, citing substitute Marcus Rashford's ebullience, and added some players would not be considered for selection in future games against eminent opponents.

"It has nothing to do with experience or age because you have the kid then in the second-half and the kid looked like he was playing in the Under-18s versus Salford City," Mourinho said.

"So it's about the individual and every individual reacts to the dimension in different ways, so it's difficult to predict.

"It only gets easier when you know the players very, very well. When you work with them one month, two months, three months, four months, you see how they react in certain circumstances, you try to get a better feeling.

"So maybe in the next big game in the Premier League probably I know who can accept well the dimension of the game, which is very important."

Thought these bits were interesting. All you can do as a manager when a player underperforms as some of ours did in that first half is sub them off really, he clearly didn't expect so many to lose their heads and basically play the occasion instead of the game. Anyway, think this game will give Mourinho a lot of insight into what he can expect for the next big game. Herrera for one I think will walk into the side for big games, and there's a good chance of Rashford doing the same. Probably wasn't entirely pleased with Blind either.

 

[K2K]

Rashford will probably get a lot of starts now.

Good on him.

 

[Marcelinho87]

and added some players would not be considered for selection in future games against eminent opponents.

That line is interesting, I wonder who?

 

[3KDré]

I hope this means more Smalling, Rashford and Martial.

 

[kps88]

What does a "first station ball" mean?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

What does this mean?

I told 20 times today never play the first station ball, never, never play because it's where they want to press.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

What does a "first station ball" mean?

hahaha thats what I was wondering..

 

[sport2793]

What does a "first station ball" mean?

Not a football expert but I assume it pertains to the number of short passes to the closest player that United tried to play after winning possession. The pass would go into the player and then he would quickly lose possession as City applied pressure to the player in this position.

Interesting to note that in the second half we hardly tried to do this and it made a massive difference. City had no answer for our size and direct play.

 

[The United]

I hope this means more Smalling, Rashford and Martial.

Yup from the past, smalling got sent off in city game and FA cup final. Yeah good example of not letting the occasions get to you etc.

Also, jose as usual talking shit , he just hates losing against pep and dishing shit out on the players.

 

[fontaine]

What does a "first station ball" mean?

I'm wondering the same. Maybe its the first half of the pitch?

 

[DWelbz19]

It must mean the short passes in the middle of our own half.

 

[The United]

Not a football expert but I assume it pertains to the number of short passes to the closest player that United tried to play after winning possession.

If so, he wanted us to hoof the ball more? I thought we did it a lot and had little effects. Could have played more on the ground then.

 

[Borden]

Or not.

Harsh comments, but fair.

 

[sport2793]

If so, he wanted us to hoof the ball more? I thought we did it a lot and had little effects. Could have played more on the ground then.

I disagree actually. The hoof balls actually worked fairly decently. It pushed City back a fair amount and it allowed us to get into the final third with far greater frequency than the first half. The reason why City had so much space on the counter was that United were gassed by the 70th minute.

 

[Cristiano Lell]

What does a "first station ball" mean?

passing to the guy standing next to you

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Not a football expert but I assume it pertains to the number of short passes to the closest player that United tried to play after winning possession. The pass would go into the player and then he would quickly lose possession as City applied pressure to the player in this position.

Interesting to note that in the second half we hardly tried to do this and it made a massive difference. City had no answer for our size and direct play.

Basically pass it long, then. Exciting stuff.

 

[derace]

Yup from the past, smalling got sent off in city game and FA cup final. Yeah good example of not letting the occasions get to you etc.

Also, jose as usual talking shit , he just hates losing against pep and dishing shit out on the players.

why is he talking shit?

apart from the part with the "first ball station" which i dont even know what that means he is right.

he brought rashford who could cope much better with the big game than lingard or mkhi. same for herrera. he clearly saw who he could trust in big games and who cant handle it (yet).

 

[The United]

I disagree actually. The hoof balls actually worked fairly decently. It pushed City back a fair amount and it allowed us to get into the final third with far greater frequency than the first half. The reason why City had so much space on the counter was that United were gassed by the 70th minute.

Not in the first half. Most hoof balls came back down to us to invite more pressure right away. Holding the ball or passing the ball would slower their tempo a bit. Or even pass around the back just to make them chase then let DDG to hoof would make them a bit more tired. It is not like we don't know how to pass around at the back. LVG spent 2 years teaching us! lol

Hoofing them for the sake of it the sec we got the ball was pretty much mindless.

 

[SwansonsTache]

That line is interesting, I wonder who?

Fair assumption that the two he took off at half time will be missing out. Not sure what this does to Mkhi though, considering he is said to have a frail mentality.

Anyone know what the first ball station means? Is that the pass immediately when they receive the ball, or is it where they pass it to?

 

[United22]

Yup from the past, smalling got sent off in city game and FA cup final. Yeah good example of not letting the occasions get to you etc.

Also, jose as usual talking shit , he just hates losing against pep and dishing shit out on the players.

Oh yeah, forgot that it was him that lost and not the players

 

[sport2793]

Basically pass it long, then. Exciting stuff.

Ya it's not pretty but City were so good at dispossessing the player receiving the pass that you can't argue against it. SAF definitely would have looked to do the same.

 

[Valar Morghulis]

What does a "first station ball" mean?

Again just guessing, and it'd be good if someone that's heard this phrase before could actually confirm what it means but, I assumed it meant don't play the most obvious pass. I don't think it necessarily means play a long ball game. I think it more means, try not to pass it to the nearest player to you and instead try to pass to players further away. It's difficult to really do that consistently throughout a match however because some times the "first station ball" is the only pass you can make when you're being pressed.

 

[Stack]

It must mean the short passes in the middle of our own half.

No it doesnt. It means the team mate closest to you.

 

[sport2793]

Not in the first half. Most hoof balls came back down to us to invite more pressure right away. Holding the ball or passing the ball would slower their tempo a bit. Or even pass around the back just to make them chase then let DDG to hoof would make them a bit more tired. It is not like we don't know how to pass around at the back. LVG spent 2 years teaching us! lol

Hoofing them for the sake of it the sec we got the ball was pretty much mindless.

I guess we watched a different match because United definitely tried to play the ball short very very often and it led to our demise in the first 30 minutes of the match.

 

[The United]

Oh yeah, forgot that it was him that lost and not the players

Did you or we think that way with the likes of moyes , lvg etc?

 

[Manny]

passing to the guy standing next to you

This makes the most sense.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Ya it's not pretty but City were so good at dispossessing the player receiving the pass that you can't argue against it. SAF definitely would have looked to do the same.

Not so sure. Maybe against Barcelona our hand would be forced, but in the PL we usually took teams on. I don't see any reason, looking at the team sheets, to suggest that we need to play like underdogs against City. The only reason I can think of for us to play that way is that Pep is at City and Mourinho at United.

 

[Stack]

Again just guessing, and it'd be good if someone that's heard this phrase before could actually confirm what it means but, I assumed it meant don't play the most obvious pass. Like try not to pass it to the nearest player to you and instead try to pass to players further away. It's confusing to really do that consistently throughout a match however because some times the "first station ball" is the only pass you can make when you're being pressed.

Its the team mate closest to you. The reason is because their defender who presses is coming in at such an angle that they want you to go for the nearest team mate, their second defender is anticipating that pass. You can see this happening by watching the 1st defenders pressing run, it will be of an angle or of a curved run that forces the ball carrier to go a certain way which is to make it easier for the 2nd defender to pressure hard the team mates 1st touch.

 

[kps88]

passing to the guy standing next to you

Makes sense. We definitely did that less in the second half.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

What does this mean?

hahaha thats what I was wondering..

passing to the guy standing next to you

It's not necessarily passing to the closest team mate, but I'm assuming he means passing on the first movement. It's a pretty established concept of football that always passing on (to) the first movement makes your game very predictable and easy to read. Especially against a high pressing team like any Guardiola-coached team, who will always be trained to track the first movement very well.

The opposite of not passing on the first movement is not (necessarily) long balls, but rather letting the first move create space and find the pass that utilizes that space.

 

[krazyrobus]

I wish someone clarified the first station thing with Mou himself.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

It's not necessarily passing to the closest team mate, but I'm assuming he means passing on the first movement. It's a pretty established concept of football that always passing on (to) the first movement makes your game very predictable and easy to read. Especially against a high pressing team like any Guardiola-coached team, who will always be trained to track the first movement very well.

The opposite of not passing on the first movement is not (necessarily) long balls, but rather letting the first move create space and find the pass that utilizes that space.

Its the team mate closest to you. The reason is because their defender who presses is coming in at such an angle that they want you to go for the nearest team mate, their second defender is anticipating that pass. You can see this happening by watching the 1st defenders pressing run, it will be of an angle or of a curved run that forces the ball carrier to go a certain way which is to make it easier for the 2nd defender to pressure hard the team mates 1st touch.

Both interesting takes. I wonder which one he meant.

 

[sport2793]

Not so sure. Maybe against Barcelona our hand would be forced, but in the PL we usually took teams on. I don't see any reason, looking at the team sheets, to suggest that we need to play like underdogs against City. The only reason I can think of for us to play that way is that Pep is at City and Mourinho at United.

Hmm, I thought Chelsea sat back quite a bit at home against LVGs United in their last title winning season under Mourinho? It's not a great feeling to not have more of the ball at home but I definitely think that the formation was the issue rather than the tactic to absorb pressure and hit them on the counter.

 

[DWelbz19]

No it doesnt. It means the team mate closest to you.

... Which tends to be short passes in our own half.

 

[Dominos]

Not a football expert but I assume it pertains to the number of short passes to the closest player that United tried to play after winning possession. The pass would go into the player and then he would quickly lose possession as City applied pressure to the player in this position.

Interesting to note that in the second half we hardly tried to do this and it made a massive difference. City had no answer for our size and direct play.

I'd go along with this. The obvious/closest pass is the one City are ready to press.

I think this may be why we saw so many long balls and rushed forward passes in the 2nd half - he'd told them to stop playing their way out of situations. But to me it just came across as a lack of patience and composure, and we were not having any success with the long balls either. We should be able to keep the ball better than we did, this was not peak Barca pressing we were facing today. We had no desire to work good positions through our passing or keep the ball to pin them back for long periods and sustain the pressure we built.

I can accept a certain amount of turnover in possession, but the amount of times we gave it away needlessly today was far beyond acceptable. I said in another thread if we gave the ball away half the amount we did today, although it still would have been too many, we'd have had a much better chance of getting a draw or win out the game.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Jose is as much to blame than the players.

Before the game, a number of us, including myself, felt it was necessary we went with a three man midfield, because we know the way Guardiola plays. As it were, we didn't, and were punished because of it.

Poor mistake by Jose, in my opinion.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Hmm, I thought Chelsea sat back quite a bit at home against LVGs United in their last title winning season under Mourinho? It's not a great feeling to not have more of the ball at home but I definitely think that the formation was the issue rather than the tactic to absorb pressure and hit them on the counter.

Yep. There's nothing inherently wrong with sitting back. But I personally hate seeing United doing it at home. I better get used to it given it happened against Southampton at times as well, and well, because this is Jose Mourinho. I just thought maybe he always had the Barca excuse earlier. Turns out not to be the case at all.

Funnily enough, that performance under LVG at SB made me proud, because we were brave enough to take charge of the game even if we lost.

 

[The United]

I'd go along with this. The obvious/closest pass is the one City are ready to press.

I think this may be why we saw so many long balls and rushed forward passes in the 2nd half - he'd told them to stop playing their way out of situations. But to me it just came across as a lack of patience and composure, and we were not having any success with the long balls either. We should be able to keep the ball better than we did, this was not peak Barca pressing we were facing today. We had no desire to work good positions through our passing or keep the ball to pin them back for long periods and sustain the pressure we built.

I can accept a certain amount of turnover in possession, but the amount of times we gave it away needlessly today was far beyond acceptable. I said in another thread if we gave the ball away half the amount we did today, although it still would have been too many, we'd have had a much better chance of getting a draw or win out the game.

This.

Manchester United not being able to pass in that kind of situation would be a worry. So we should play long ball. I thought we hated it under the previous 2 or even 3 managers?

 

[krazyrobus]

If the first station thing means more clearances then i despair for the team because the result ends up being the same. The goals didn't even come from the pressing, I hope it means changing the orientation of the pass.

 

[VanGaalEra]

I thought Jesse seemed very nervous today, normally he's quite relaxed and just loves playing for his childhood team.

The occasion must have got to him.