Jose Mourinho press conference RECAP - what Manchester United boss said in Beijing
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Thanks for tuning in. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of Jose Mourinho’s press conference.
United's players watch on eagerly as Mourinho faces the press
Some snaps from Mourinho's outdoor press conference
A few pictures are starting to trickle in from Mourinho’s press conference earlier today.
United train in Beijing
Good spirits in training
There’s been a common theme in Manchester United training over the last few weeks which hasn’t been seen for a long time: Players smiling.
United’s squad are currently being put through their paces with a game of keep-ball and the players are sporting beaming smiles across their faces.
We’ll bring you pictures of the session as soon as we get them.
Mourinho: United and City will be challenging for top honours
“We are two of the teams that want to fight for big things but there are many others.
“Without any doubt, 20 teams will fight for every point in every match, so the Premier League is becoming even more special.”
Mourinho says the derby means nothing when its a friendly
“City against United for me is at Old Trafford or at the Etihad or even the cup final at Wembley. Not a friendly.
“Maybe with these conditions it’s a double friendly.”
Mourinho reveals what he wants to see from his players against City
“[I want to see] emotional balance. I cannot ask for anything from the tactical point of view. I just hope their motivation doesn’t go down from the last few days.
“Then we go home and play a couple of games.”
Mourinho criticises the pitch at the Bird’s Nest Stadium
“I think we have to play and the conditions also for the training session are not the best. For the training session we can control the situation by doing very little and not bringing the players into risky situations but in the match it’s different.
“I hope our players and City’s players can go home without injury.”
Mourinho speaks to MUTV
The next few quotes are from an interview Mourinho conducted with MUTV.
Mourinho: Football is about players, not managers
Asked about the dearth of managerial quality on show in the Premier League next season, Mourinho says it will bring the best out of him but maintains the players are the most important people involved in football.
“The more difficult the challenges, the more you need from yourself,” Mourinho said.
“But in the end, the game is 11 against 11, and the players are the ones who play the real game. They are more important than us [the managers].”
Mourinho mocks journalists question
One reporter asks Mourinho if he is “happy” that Portugal won Euro 2016.
Mourinho responds: “Another brilliant question. Are you expecting me to say no?”
Mourinho looking forward to return to Manchester
Mourinho is keen to return to Manchester where he will link up with a number of players who are still on holiday following Euro 2016.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Anthony Martial, Morgan Schneiderlin, Matteo Darmian and Bastian Schweinsteiger are yet to return to club duty.
“Manchester City have all of their players, we have six, seven or eight, which played in the Euros,” Mourinho said.
“What I want is to get back to Manchester and train with the full group.”
Asked why the club has come to China for pre-season, Mourinho added: “It’s good for the fans and for the commercial side of things.
“We have a good group, we have a good spirit and we cope with it. Tomorrow is the last day and then it is over.”
Mourinho: I will shake Pep's hand
Mourinho responds in tetchy fashion after being asked if he will shake Pep Guardiola’s hand tomorrow.
“To qualify the question I would use some unpolite words. Of course I’ll shake his hand,” Mourinho said.
“I don’t understand the question to him and I don’t understand the question to myself. We worked together at Barcelona and we worked against each other in Spain. I don’t see the reason for the question.”
Mourinho explains aeroplane incident
Mourinho is asked about the aeroplane incident which saw some squad members make an unscheduled landing on the flight from Shanghai to Beijing.
“We were supposed to fly with two different planes, with half of us in one plane and half in the other,” Mourinho said.
“The ones in the first plane were lucky because we landed safely and were in the hotel to have dinner.
“The second group was unlucky. the plane was not good. they had to make an unscheduled landing for a couple of hours, and then they arrived in the hotel to have dinner at one o’clock in the morning.
“But they had it with a smile on their faces which is good.”
Mourinho wants luck with injuries
Mourinho continues to criticise the pitch and his primary aim is to get all of United’s players home fit.
“We cannot just run away and disappear and not play, so we have to play and try to be lucky,” Mourinho said.
“Normally when we say lucky we say lucky because we want a good result. The result I want tomorrow is to go home without injuries.”
Mourinho on the dreadful pitch
Mourinho is asked if Shanghai is an unlucky place for him because of United’s loss to Borussia Dortmund on Friday.
He says: “I think Beijing is unlucky because the pitch is very bad. The condition of my players is more important than the results in pre-season.
“I have only one goal from tomorrow’s match, take the players home safe.”
Jose is out
Mourinho is now speaking to the media.
Guardiola vows to shake Mourinho's hand
While we’re waiting for Jose to make his way outside, here’s what happened when his opposite number, Pep Guardiola, faced the press earlier today...
Pep Guardiola insists he will shake hands with arch rival Jose Mourinho at Monday’s Manchester derby in Beijing, writes our man David McDonnell in Beijing.
Manchester rivals City and United come face-to-face in the Chinese capital in a game that pits old foes Guardiola and Mourinho against each other for the first time since their rivalry in Spain.
Guardiola and Mourinho became sworn enemies when the pair were in charge of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, the pair clashing frequently as their rivalry turned toxic.
But ahead of Monday’s encounter at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, Guardiola said he would observe the pre and post-match ritual by shaking hands with Mourinho.
“Of course,” said Guardiola. “We are polite guys. Why not?
“Why shouldn’t I shake hands with him? No reason why not. He wants to win, I want to win.
“It’s a friendly game, a really friendly game.”
Press conference delayed
Today’s press conference has been delayed.
Due to the sweltering temperature in the press room in Beijing (it’s nudging 40 degrees celsius), United have taken the decision to hold the press conference outside.
There will now be a short delay as reporters and cameraman make their way outside to prepare for the relocated conference.
Our man David McDonnell is on the scene he’s shared these tweets:
Bird's Nest Stadium pitch in abysmal state
MUTV have just shown images of the pitch at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, the setting for tomorrow’s match.
It doesn’t look good.
Torrential rain battered the Chinese city last week and the bad weather has seemingly taken its toll on the pitch.
It looks extremely patchy and you have to think it won’t be conducive to a good standard of football.
It's almost time!
Jose just 20 minutes away
The Manchester United manager is set to address the media at 11.30am, with the press conference being streamed live on MUTV.
In an appetiser ahead of Monday’s friendly, the station is currently showing a memorable Manchester derby from 1994, which United won 5-0 at Old Trafford.
Mourinho wants title this season
Jose Mourinho was given the target of winning the Premier League title within three years when he took the reins at Manchester United - but he wants to do it in just one.
The Red Devils haven’t won the title since Sir Alex Ferguson called it a day in 2013 and only have the FA Cup show for the last three years of underachievement.
Mourinho is keen to put things right at Old Trafford and help the club’s supporters to put the last three years out of their memory.
“The message from the owners and Mr Woodward was this — ‘Get your three years, do your work, improve the team and bring us back where we belong during a three-year period’,” Mourinho told the Sun on Sunday.
“My message was that I wanted to win the title in the first season.
“I want to be champion. To say before the season starts that the top four is the target? The top four is not the target. We want to play to be champions.”
United vs City: 11 things you need to know
With United set to face City in a little over 24 hours’ time, we’ve come up with this handy article for you to find out everything you need to know about the match.
From team news to previous results, likely line-ups to quotes from players and managers, you’ll find out all the key informationright here.
The latest United stories from Mirror Sport
While we wait for Jose, let’s take a look at the key Manchester United stories from the past 24 hours...
- Juventus manager Max Allegri has confirmed the club is in talks to sell Paul Pogba back to United
- Paul Scholes doesn’t believe Pogba is worth the world-record fee United are about to spend on him
- United are set to battle Manchester City for Brazilian starlet Gabriel Jesus
- Anthony Martial appears to be annoyed that the club has given his number nine shirt to Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- Wayne Rooney says he will be used in the number 10 role by Jose Mourinho next season
- United’s team plane had to make an unscheduled landingon their flight to Beijing due to poor weather
- Bastian Schweinsteiger is the most high-profile player facing the axe at Old Trafford
- David de Gea has backed new boss Mourinho to bring successback to Old Trafford
Mourinho set to speak at 11.30am
Good morning and welcome to this Mirror Football live blog as Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho prepares to speak to the media ahead of Monday’s friendly against Manchester City.
The Portuguese is scheduled to appear at 11.30am (UK time) and will be questioned on subjects such as Friday’s disappointing loss to Borussia Dortmund and the future of Paul Pogba.
Pogba is set to re-join United in a world-record £100million deal in the coming days.
Mourinho was tight-lipped about the situation in his last conference, but he might have more to say on the matter now.
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