Jose Mourinho called his Man United players 'childish' after Leicester draw

Posted Sunday, December 24, 2017 by ESPN

Jose Mourinho called his Man United players 'childish' after Leicester draw
Jose Mourinho looks on during Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Leicester City.

Jose Mourinho accused his players of being "childish" after Manchester United conceded a stoppage-time equaliser to draw with 10-man Leicester.

Harry Maguire made it 2-2 in the fourth minute of injury time at the King Power Stadium after two goals from Juan Mata had cancelled out Jamie Vardy's opener for Leicester, who had substitute Daniel Amartey sent off after 73 minutes.

Mourinho was particularly unhappy at his team missing what he called "joke" chances to kill the game.

He was also left frustrated after his players failed to reorganise themselves following an injury to Chris Smalling in the closing stages.

It was Smalling, barely able to move because of a groin problem, who got caught under the ball at the back post allowing Maguire to score.

Mourinho told Sky Sports: "We did everything to win but we lost big chances in front of the goal and not just big chances, also possession moments. I would say childish lost possession.

"In the end, no maturity because Smalling was in trouble, he comes out of the game, they put Maguire as an extra man but the players on the pitch cannot react and analyse the game and make a quick adjustment.

"So I think childish in our box and childish in their box. We were punished by our mistakes and what more can I say?"

Mourinho described the game as "an easy match to win" but saw his team lose more ground in the title race and fall 13 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City, who beat Bournemouth 4-0 earlier in the day.

Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford all had golden opportunities to make it 3-1 before Maguire struck with almost the last kick of the game.

Mourinho added: "We didn't win because we missed incredible chances.

"I would say joke chances. In the last second of the game we make a big defensive mistake so it is an accumulation of mistakes in an easy match to win.

"I told to the players at half-time, when the result was 1-1, it was an easy match to win.

"The team was playing well and equalised before half-time.

"In the second-half, as we all know, the result should be four, five, six. But the reality is that it's 2-2. Sometimes you make mistakes and you are not punished but we were punished.

"Easy match to win. We were punished with two points in an easy match to win."

Yet despite the losses and the seemingly insurmountable gap to City in the table, Mourinho admits he is still happy in himself.

"I feel great," he added. "Seriously. It's one thing to be angry as a manager and it is another to feel great as a man. I feel great, I work hard."

Maguire said the result felt like a win.

"It feels great to get a last-minute draw. Kasper [Schmeichel] has pulled us out a few times and did it again today," Maguire said.

"It was a great moment today and we will go and enjoy it. We had to stick with it, it was crucial to keep it at 2-1 and when we kept it at 2-1 for as long as we did we knew we would get a chance.

"Thankfully it fell to me and I was able to put it away.

"It's one of those games that feels like a victory, but it's a point, it's a good point against a good side."