Jose Mourinho: Manchester United too passive against Valencia

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho criticised his side for being ‘too passive’ in their defeat to Valencia on Wednesday.

United progressed to the last 16 but missed the chance to top the group with a 2-1 defeat in Mestalla thanks to a Carlos Soler strike and an own goal from Phil Jones.

“We were too passive in the first half,” Mourinho told reporters, as cited by BBC Sport.

“We were quite comfortable with the ball but not in intensity and ambition. In the second half, I was pretty sure that after speaking at half-time things could be different but we started with an own goal that gave Valencia a better position to control the game.

“I made the two changes later and the team improved immediately, we started playing faster, arriving with link play in more dangerous positions, and we probably should get to 2-2 because we had a couple of good chances to equalise.

“But we started the first half playing too comfortable and not with enough intensity.

“Ultimately, this is job done in a difficult group – I don't think we were brilliant in this group phase, but with the problems we had and the injuries we had we managed to come here already qualified.”

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