Manchester United will start next season with players Jose Mourinho does not ‘love’ in his squad

Mourinho remains cautious over the possibility of hunting down Manchester City next season and says he will have to keep players not capable of bridging the gap

Jose Mourinho was speaking before United’s meeting with West Ham (Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho is resigned to starting his third season at Manchester United with players he does not consider strong enough to bridge the gap on rivals Manchester City.

Mourinho was critical of his side’s performance following the 1-0 defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend, claiming their poor display proved that some of his players “are not as good as people think”.

With two fixtures of their league campaign remaining, United sit 20 points behind champions City, who could yet finish with the biggest title-winning margin in Premier League history. The current record stands at 18, set by United in the 1999-2000 season.

Mourinho’s task next year will be to bridge that gap and mount a serious title challenge but ahead of Thursday’s trip to West Ham, the United manager admitted he is likely to start next season with players he does not “love” in his squad.

“How many points separate us from Manchester City? Not two, three or four. A lot of points,” he said, when asked whether his squad needed more quality or a change in mindset. “I think we need both things that you mentioned. Some of the people we have, they have to be more consistent in their performance and we need more quality.

“I trust some more than others that can bridge that gap,” he added. “That’s normal. I know the players. I worked with the players for a couple of years. I know them better than anyone. And of course, some of the players I am totally convinced are going to make it, some others I have good hopes that they are going to make it and some others I don’t believe they are going to make it.”

When asked whether United can keep giving chances to players he does not consider strong enough, he said: “Of course we can keep. Unless there is a perfect squad, where you buy one goalkeeper you don’t like, you buy another one. You buy a central defender you don’t like, you buy another one.

“Unless you can do that, and you go in the direction of the perfect squad, you have to keep players you don’t love – when I say love, I say it footballistically – and players you don’t totally believe have the level of the squad. But you have to keep.

Manchester United have been mercurial this season (Getty)

“If you go to the Premier League managers, I don’t say every one, but I say the majority of them will tell you the same. In my squad, I have some players where I would like to have better than what I have. That’s basic.”

Last Friday’s defeat in Brighton meant that United have lost to each of the newly-promoted clubs away from home this season, following surprise reverses at the homes of Huddersfield Town and Newcastle United earlier in the campaign.

Conversely, United have enjoyed a much-improved record against fellow ‘big six’ clubs – beating each of Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal at least once in the league this season.

Mourinho claimed on Wednesday that United’s record against ‘bigger’ and ‘smaller’ clubs does not ‘smell right’ and suggested the defeats to clubs in mid-table and the bottom half suggested a problem with his players’ mentality.

“I think it’s normal that during the season you have your low moments, but in a balanced way,” he said. “It is not like you always lose against the big teams because you are afraid of them or you always lose against the small teams because you don’t respect them.

“I think football is made of balances, so if you told me that we lost five matches, and one was against Huddersfield, and one was against Manchester City and one was against Leicester City, and you lose in different circumstances, I say that’s football, that’s human beings playing football. But when you lose against all the teams that were promoted, doesn’t smell right, for me.”

Asked what he can do to change his side’s peculiar record, he said: “Try to succeed in getting every player to have the same mentality as I have. To have the same mentality as I have, is to face every game in the same way.

“I am not afraid to play against the big teams and I respect the small teams, and I prepare a match against a big team in the same way I prepare a match against a small team. For me the match against the big team is not different to the match against the small team. Big and small, I don’t like it [those terms], but that’s the way I can express it.”