Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho: ‘When I don’t win, you kill me’
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ByEurosport
Updated 23/04/2018 at 07:25 GMT
Manchester United reached the FA Cup final on Saturday at the expense of Spurs, but Jose Mourinho has used the win to hit back at his critics.
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho after the win over Manchester City
Image credit: Getty Images
The Portuguese manager masterminded United’s 2-1 comeback victory over Tottenham in the semi-finals on Saturday, but insisted that only a trophy would silence his critics.
Mourinho won the Europa League and League Cup in his first season at United, with May’s final against former club Chelsea offering another chance of silverware.
However, he has faced criticism for his defence-minded approach as neighbours Manchester City have romped away with the Premier League this campaign.
"When I don't win, you kill me,'' said Mourinho. "Because I almost do that all the time, when I don't do it, you kill me, which is what you are all ready to do.''
Summer signing Romelu Lukaku highlighted inconsistency as a key issue and Mourinho accepts they can do much better.
“I keep saying that I think we should have probably eight, nine, 10 more points than we had,” the United boss said.
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Manchester United's Ander Herrera celebrates scoring their second goal with Jesse Lingard
Image credit: Reuters
“We could finish this season with 88, 89, 90 points. Not acceptable, the last defeat (1-0 at home to West Brom on April 15). Not acceptable, the performance at Huddersfield (2-1 defeat in October). Not acceptable, the performance at Newcastle (1-0 defeat in February).
“So, we lost a few matches that we should do better. Can we improve next season? Let’s try.
“Can Manchester City keep this level or improve this level? Only they can say.
“But if they have the team they have and if they are going to invest on top of the team they have, of course it is going to be very difficult for us.”
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Manchester United's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho (R) has words with Manchester United's Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera (L) on the touchline during the English FA Cup semi-final football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Wemble
Image credit: Getty Images
Put to Mourinho that United would need to improve their side, he added: “We are going to invest the basic to improve our squad.
“We need to find a replacement for Michael Carrick. If Marouane Fellaini leaves, we need to find a replacement for Marouane Fellaini.
“There is always in the group of players, in the squad, there is always a player or a couple of players, they are not playing a lot, and they will try obviously to leave, so we are going again to touch our squad and to believe that more than spend, spend, spend, is probably the evolution of our players.
“We have some young players that need to get with both hands opportunities with their evolution, so let’s see.
“But in this moment, I don’t even think about next season or the final, I think about Arsenal (Premier League match at Old Trafford on April 29) because we need one point to finish top four, but we need seven points to finish second and we deserve to finish second and we have to finish second.”
With additional reporting from PA Sport
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