Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has spoken about what he said to his players at half time today as they lost the lead against Derby County.
The Red Devils scored early on through a well-worked Juan Mata goal, but could not build on that as the visitors turned things around to go 2-1 up in the second half.
MORE: Video: Marouane Fellaini scores late header to take Manchester United to penalties vs Derby
United did manage a late equaliser through Marouane Fellaini but then lost in the resulting penalty shoot-out at Old Trafford to continue their poor recent form.
Worryingly for Mourinho, it seems he did tell his players at the break that they had to be clinical and finish Derby off.
‘We didn’t score when we could and we could in the first half, we had good situations to kill it. At half time I repeated the words I did in the last match. I told them we needed to kill the game and we didn’t,’ Mourinho is quoted by Chris Winterburn.
Mourinho, "We didn't score when we could and we could in the first half, we had good situations to kill it. At half time I repeated the words I did in the last match. I told them we needed to kill the game and we didn't."
— Chris Winterburn (@cmwinterburn) September 25, 2018
Not the most inspiring or positive message – and one has to wonder if at this point his words just seem to do more harm than good, perhaps making his players feel nervous about seeing the game out even when they’re in control.
Having drawn 1-1 at home to Wolves in their last Premier League game, this was really not the result United needed tonight as Mourinho’s renowned third-season syndrome truly looks to be in full swing.