Jose Mourinho: Man Utd will play with one defender and NINE strikers against Liverpool

Posted Saturday, October 14, 2017 by Express.co.uk

Jose Mourinho: Man Utd will play with one defender and NINE strikers against Liverpool
Jose Mourinho's Manchester United travel to Liverpool tomorrow

JOSE MOURINHO has hit back at criticism of his team selection in previous trips to Anfield, sarcastically claiming he will field NINE strikers for Manchester United's trip to Liverpool tomorrow.

Mourinho was criticised for a cautious approach in last season's goalless draw at Anfield but gave a sarcastic reply when asked if he would be more on the front foot tomorrow, given his team have been full of goals and confidence this season.

He said: "Yep, I play with one defender and nine strikers, don't worry about it! We play with one guy behind and then we go with a new system and we play with nine strikers, don't worry about it."

Mourinho then tried to play down the fixture that is regarded as the biggest in the English game.

"It's just one more match, it could be the first, could be the eighth or ninth or the last one. Probably if it was the last match [of the season] maybe it would decide something important but October for me is just another match.

"I understand the tradition, the emotions around the supporters but I look at it in a professional way, what I try to tell my players from the beginning of the season is every match is important, there are no easy matches, there are no matches you prepare more carefully than others so if I try to instil this mentality in them then I am not going to say this match is more important than others."

Mourinho will without three midfielders - with Michael Carrick (calf) joining Marouane Fellaini and Paul Pogba on the sidelines - which means Ander Herrera will partner Nemanja Matic in midfield.

But in other departments, United have no injury worries.

Mourinho has also challenged his United stars to relish the traditional hostility at Anfield – and called it a "beautiful place."

The Portuguese poured scorn on former United players who have talked this week about the intimidation they felt when playing at Liverpool's atmospheric stadium.

He said: "This is funny for me when people speak about big atmospheres - it looks like we don't like them and it's a problem for us to go to a certain place.

"But this is what we want so I am surprised when people talk about that in a negative way, I am surprised when I hear former big players speak about atmospheres like they were something sinister.

"But it motivates us, if we could have every match like that we would love to have every match.

"When Barcelona played against Las Palmas in an empty stadium recently, do you think the players were happy with that?

"We are speaking about Anfield in this case as if it's a big problem. But it's a satisfaction, it's what we want.

"I've never seen a player yet who complains this atmosphere is very strong. When we don't play at home and don't see a big enthusiasm from the people, we complain.

"We are going to play against a big team with a great tradition in an amazing stadium, we know the fans have a huge animosity against Manchester United historically, but this is what we want.

"We have these beautiful conditions, it's beautiful to play at Anfield."