Date: 31-Jul-2016

Jose Mourinho

Interviewer: Jose, did you learn plenty from those 90 minutes?

Jose: Most important thing was to play, to give minutes to the players. The ones that played less, they played 30 minutes, and the ones that played the most – 60,65 – they need to play. We lost a week in China, and some of the boys that played today – they trained two days, and we made that decision to give them 30-45 minutes of the game, feeling that it would be better for their development, than even a double training session. So, that’s the most important thing, no time to work, not a long time to change, to implement a couple of new ideas, new principles of play. Everything at this time is step-by-step. And the reality is that we do not have this time. We have a game against Leicester next week, and we have the Premier League in a couple of weeks. We need time, we don’t have time – the only solution is to train hard, and to train against opposition like today is the most important thing we can do. So I’m happy with the intensity of the game, I’m happy with the mistakes we made. I’m really happy with the mistakes we made, because we work on the mistakes. I’m really happy with the good things we did too. I’m happy with the spirit. I’m happy with the atmosphere. But, we’ll have to work – so, tomorrow, one day off and Monday, here we are for a double training session, and Wednesday at Old Trafford – for Rooney, but for the fans. And I will do the same as today – I will play 22 players, I don’t care with the results too much. I want to give minutes to every one.

Interviewer: Zlatan and Marcus Rashford are at either end of the experience scale, but did they both show what they can do tonight?

Jose: Of course, but I think everyone gave everything to improve, and even the guys that come on with the 4-2; I told them before they come, forget the result. Don’t play like we are winning 4-2. You need these 30 minutes to play high tempo, high intensity football. Forget the 4-2. So, that’s what they all tried to do. Of course, Marcus did Well, and Ibra showed us glimpses of the things he can bring us, but when I see guys like Fellaini, Martial, Schneiderlin, they train two days, and they come here – and I just told them, don’t try to go with the intensity of the game, try to go with the intensity that makes you comfortable. And I prefer this way – I prefer that they are on the pitch. So, I’m happy. I’m happy with the opposition, they played. They already have played 6-7 matches, so they are in a higher tempo than us. So, I’m happy with all. And I’m happy that out of such a big group, we have just Timothy and Chris Smalling with little injuries. And apart from them, no injuries and everything looks rolling well for them.

Interviewer: Did the guys who come on show that they want to be in your plans? That the competition…

Jose: Well, if they were not in my plans, I would not give them one single minute. I would not keep them in my squad. The squad is very competitive. The squad is very important for the season. The other day I was telling them we have 38 matches in the Premier League. We have the possibility of 15 matches in the Europa League, plus the domestic cups. We are going to play 60 matches. So, 60 matches – you cannot do it with 11 players. So, to be in this squad, you have to understand that the squad is more important than the individual. The club is more important than all of us, and to be in the squad, you have to be ready for all of this. To play, not to play, play a lot, play less, play 90 minutes, play 1 minute, being not selected – everything is part of a squad life and when you have to be in a big club like we are, the club is much more important than us.

Interviewer: Thanks very much.

Jose: Thank you.

Marouane Fellaini

Interviewer: Well done, great goal as well. How useful was that workout tonight?

Fellaini: I think we did a job, we win, we create chances in the second half. I think the first half was a little bit difficult, the pressure was not good. The intensity was not there, but after that, the manager say something in the dressing room and we played well today.

Interviewer: The second half was an excellent performance. Loads of goals for the fans who’ve turned out to watch you guys. But a great turnout, shows how popular Manchester United is all over the world.

Fellaini: Yeah, of course, we know Man United have a lot of support here. We see today here as well in Sweden. So, we are happy to win today in front of the fans.

Marcus Rashford

Interviewer: Was that a good workout for the team today?

I think it’s important for us to get the first win as a group, so.. And also, we had to dig in to get the result, and it’s a good way to win, leading up to the season.

Interviewer: What was the manager’s message at half-time? Because certainly, the players who came on made an impact.

He wasn’t concerned about anything from the first half. He just told us all to push up as a team, and we did that, and closed out spaces in the second half.

Interviewer: I suppose it was inevitable that Zlatan was going to make an impact; it only took him 3 minutes, and what an impact it was!

Rashford: Yeah, it’s amazing. It seems impossible that he’s here and we can all learn from him while he’s here so we all have to take that chance while it’s there.

Interviewer: And for you, specially. I mean, you’re just 18 – he’s done everything in the game. Working with him, playing with him, training with him – how much of a help can that be?

Rashford: Yeah, it’s a massive help obviously. Just being with him day in day out, it’s helping me. Seeing him day in day out not just on the pitch, but away from it as well. So, there’s a lot to learn. Hopefully I can bring some of what he does into my own game.