MX23RW : Wednesday, December 25 13:15:35| >> :120:17892:17892:

Jose Mourinho insists he "gave everything he could" at Manchester United

Jose Mourinho lifted two major trophies during his time at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho insists he met expectations at Manchester United ahead of his Old Trafford return with Tottenham on Sunday.

Mourinho spent two-and-a-half years in the United hotseat, winning the Europa League and League Cup as well as finishing second in the Premier League and losing the 2018 FA Cup final.

He left later that year after things turned sour in his third season, but the fans gave him a warm reception on his first visit back with Spurs last December.

The Portuguese believes he did only what was possible in his time there.

"I expected that, I never had problems in the club," he said of the supporters' reaction. "The fans, they know that I gave everything that I could.

"I won what was possible to win, I didn't win what was not possible to win. I gave everything, I gave my life to the club and my professionalism, like I always do.

"Internally, lots of friends for life, lots of amazing people that I met in the club. I only have good feelings, feelings that I will have to forget in 90 minutes because for 90 minutes, they want to win, I want to win, that's football."

Spurs travel north boosted by the arrival of Benfica striker Carlos Vinicius on Friday night, though it is unlikely he will be involved.

The Brazilian's arrival adds to an already bloated squad, with close to 30 senior professionals, which Mourinho expects to trim before the transfer window shuts on Monday.

Jose Mourinho delivered the Europa League to Manchester United in 2017
Jose Mourinho delivered the Europa League to Manchester United in 2017 (Nick Potts/PA)

Despite their recent hectic schedule, having to play eight games in 22 days, the likes of Juan Foyth, Ryan Sessegnon, Paulo Gazzaniga, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Danny Rose have not been used at all.

Mourinho has previously said he has too many players and it becomes difficult to manage, so he expects to lose some before Monday night's deadline.

"The transfer window in two directions and it's possible that we could let a couple of players to leave, it's possible we could let a couple of young players to go and experience playing," he said.

"For sure, we are not going to keep every player in the squad over normal numbers.

"I like to work normally with a squad of 22 players plus the keepers and we are not going to be far from that number."

Spurs round off their packed schedule against United and Mourinho knows that plenty more of his squad will be disappointed if they are not involved.

"My job is not to keep them happy. My job is to do the best for the club and to get the best possible results," Mourinho said.

"But it is certain that I agree that it's impossible to keep everybody happy when you have so many players because every weekend, every match, some players will not be playing and that's not good for them especially when they are good players.

"But at the same time, we are a big club, we want to be bigger, we want to play in all the competitions, we have six matches in Europa League group phase playing on a Thursday and we are for sure to get lots of matches at Sunday at 12 o'clock or Sunday 3pm.

"It's going to be very, very hard so it's impossible to do it with all the same players and to have a good squad with good numbers is what all the top clubs have."

ID:416971: cacheID:416971:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7968:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba celebrates scoring against Brighton & Hove Albion on September 30, 2020
Read Next:
Combined XI: Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!