“We Analyzed Manchester United to the Fullest,” Says Mourinho in Pre-Match Press Conference

Stating that it will be a tough match, José Mourinho said, “I am not Manchester United‘s coach. I don’t see any reason for them to be afraid, but they know it won’t be an easy match. If they think it will be easy, that’s a wrong approach. They know it’s going to be tough. I believe they will come here with their full strength. I don’t think they’ll rotate their squad thinking about their weekend game. They’ll come strong, and so will I.”

When asked about the team being slow, Mourinho responded, “That’s your opinion. I respect it.”

Regarding the question, “What happened at Manchester United after you left?” Mourinho said, “I haven’t wasted a minute thinking about it. From the moment I left, I wished them all the best. I left with good feelings for the fans and the club. If things aren’t great there now, that doesn’t make me happy. But I don’t have time to think about it. There’s something I can say for sure, and this is an objective fact: they continue to show faith and support in their manager, which has allowed them to maintain stability over the seasons. When I was there, we won the Europa League and finished second in the league, which we might have won had Manchester City been penalized. They would have had to give me a bonus and a medal for that.”

JOSE MOURINHO: “TOMORROW WE WILL PLAY AGAINST ONE OF THE TWO STRONGEST CONTENDERS”

Mourinho reminded that tomorrow they will play against one of the two teams he considers favorites in the Europa League, saying, “They haven’t won in Europe, but they haven’t lost either. In this new format, everyone is trying to understand what they need. So, every point is tough and important. Playing against Porto, especially at their stadium, is never easy for any team. They played against Twente, and we also played against Twente. Of course, when it’s at Old Trafford, everyone expects Manchester United to win, but it was a tough match. The results they’ve gotten are one thing, but their potential is another. I think they have high potential. They’ve drawn two matches so far. That doesn’t make them favorites, but it doesn’t create a negative difference either. This format allows top teams to advance. Even if they lose four out of eight matches, they can win the rest, get 12 points, and easily qualify. If you ask me which two teams are favorites for this tournament, it’s easy for me to predict: Manchester United and Tottenham. The Premier League is really on a different level in terms of quality, speed, tempo, and tactics. Tomorrow, we will face one of the strongest contenders.”

JOSE MOURINHO: “I WILL TAKE ADVICE FROM TV EXPERTS”

When asked about his squad choices for tomorrow’s match against Manchester United, José Mourinho joked, “Maybe I’ll take advice from the TV experts for the left-back position because Kostic, Jayden, and Levent are unavailable. But those experts have solutions for everything. I don’t understand Turkish, but I’ll give you a task here. I’d like to hear from you. If I take your advice, I’ll be protected tomorrow because you would have made the decision. Maybe you’d suggest ‘Szymanski’ because he’s left-footed and fast. As mentioned before, he’s also not scoring goals. Maybe that’s the expert’s advice. If the expert advises this, we’ll put him in, but then we’ll see if Rashford or Garnacho plays on that side.”

Mourinho continued: “I hope the English journalists here aren’t jealous that I gave jerseys to only two English reporters. Gary has come to my city many times for interviews with me. Sam, I think, was very talented when I was there and managed to figure out the team before every match. That’s why we became friends. That doesn’t mean I’m not friends with you. If you’d like a jersey, you can get help from this person.”

When asked about his relationship with Manchester United’s legendary manager, Alex Ferguson, Mourinho said, “I have a great, incredible relationship with Alex Ferguson. When my Netflix documentary comes out, you’ll see even more why I respect him so much. I don’t have detailed information about him losing his ambassador role, nor do I think it’s important because he already has the most important thing. He has the love and respect of all Manchester United fans worldwide, and I think that’s far more important than his ambassador role or earning a few extra pounds. His importance lies in the fans’ love and respect for him.”

JOSE MOURINHO: “WE ANALYZED THEM TO THE MAXIMUM WITH MY TEAM”

Regarding Manchester United’s transfers, Mourinho said, “This is not a question for me to answer. Every time I will give the same answer: I wish them success. They are not my competitors in the Premier League. Tomorrow, we will face them. By the nature of football, I want to win the match tomorrow; I don’t want them to win. But apart from that, I wish them success. When you look at the current squad, only 3-4 players are from my time. I wish them the best. Maybe you think I’m laughing at their situation or playing mind games, but I think they are a better team than their recent results show. My team and I have analyzed them to the maximum. We watched all of their Premier League matches. We watched the matches they played against Twente and Porto. As you can see, there is work behind this. I believe they will succeed soon. Sooner or later, they will achieve success. Hopefully, it will happen before I return to England to compete against them. For now, we’re only going to play one match against them, not two. So, I don’t have any particular feelings against them.”

Mourinho concluded with: “I didn’t know. What you’re talking about is from the past. Whenever I faced them, I always played against great teams. I became European champion with Porto. Chelsea, Real Madrid; I faced them with very strong teams. Tomorrow, we’ll do our best. Of course, when you compare the two teams, there’s a big gap, but we’ll work to close that gap as much as we can.

CALL TO THE SUPER LIG BROADCASTER BEINSPORTS

Before I answer your question, I ask you to do something: Please tell your colleagues in the office and studio to show the replays when something important happens during the match. Don’t show Amrabat’s non-penalty incident twelve times. Show the replay of the foul in the last minute. If there is a system in place, the media should stay out of it and be fair to everyone. From Fenerbahçe‘s perspective, we ask for respect from the media.”

JAYDEN OOSTERWOLDE’S INJURY

“As for Jayden, I can honestly say that I’m not optimistic. I don’t think he’ll play again this season. If he gets the chance to play before the season ends, I’ll be happy, but I don’t expect him to. If he plays two or three matches in early May, that would be a bonus for me. We have six matches left in Europe, including tomorrow, and we can’t play Kostic or Levent. We can’t add anyone to the squad right now, and if we could, we would. But until the end of the year, we’ll face this challenge in UEFA competitions. In the league, we have Kostic and Levent, and we’ll continue with them. This is the squad we have. For specific reasons, we had to leave four players out of the European list. It will be tough, but this is the situation we’re in.

We can’t win tomorrow 11 against 11. We need 35,000 fans behind us.”