Date: 22-Jul-16

Jose Mourinho

Interviewer: Jose, what did you make of the game tonight?

Jose: I think in pre-season, the team that wins is always the team that is in advanced stage of their preparation, always. It is never the best team, it’s always the team that is in advanced. And it was too obvious, too obvious today. A team with 4 matches in their legs, a team with 1 match. A team working for about a month, another one working for a maximum of 15 days. Some of the players arrived 3 or 4 days ago. So, a huge difference in the preparation. But, no one likes to lose, so we are not happy with that.But I’m happy with the 90 minutes that we have in our legs which is very important to compete and to compete in difficult circumstances with the weather and with the opponent – I think was good for us.

Interviewer: And I suppose that is why you play against good sides who are well advanced in their preparation to test you more than if you played a lower league side and won by 4, 5 or 6.

Jose: There are different theories – there are people who prefer to play against lower quality teams, and win, and get confidence out of it. But then, sometimes it’s confidence out of context, out of reality. When we play a team like Borussia that starts before us, and they are one of the good teams in Europe, obviously it will be more difficult. But I think the players – they are obviously frustrated, because nobody likes to lose. Even if you say, it is not a problem – even in friendlies, you don’t like to use. But, the reality is that I was expecting for a very difficult match for our boys.

Interviewer: And what did you make of the new signings who played tonight? Another game into their United careers – Eric Bailly and Mkhitaryan. Well gelled into the squad it would seem, after the training that you’ve given them in the last two weeks.

Jose: In this moment, we are not even creating a team because so many players are not here. In this moment, we are creating individual form – trying to bring these players into a good condition. And for them both, but for all of them that had a chance to play 45, 70 or 90 minutes – it is very very important. I can imagine it will take a long time to recover from this effort – the game plus the weather. But the reality is that in this stage of the pre-season, it is good for them individually.

Interviewer: And just finally, we move on now to Beijing of course, to face Manchester City – a game that is mouth-watering for everybody around the globe. So, you must be looking forward to the next test.

Jose: Not for me, not for me. I’m not specially… with a special emotion to play against Man City. To play against Man City is… at Etihad or Old Trafford, even at Wembley. Not in a friendly in the pre-season.

Ander Herrera

Interviewer: Delighted to say Ander Herrera has been good enough to join us here pitch-side. And Dwight is here as well. Ander, It’s never nice to lose but I suppose it’s a good workout against a very good team?

Ander: I think so, you say that. They are a very good team, and they have played already four games already, I think. That’s one of the most important things in football. When you have played four games already, you are fitter, you are better. But, no excuses. We are Man United, we shouldn’t lose. We want to win every game. But of course, it is pre-season. We want to take minutes in our legs, and I think we can be satisfied. But of course, Man United don’t want to ever lose.

Interviewer: How big a difference does it make – the fact that they have played four games, and had an extra two weeks?

Ander: When you have played four-five games, he (pointing to Dwight) can say that you arrive one second before the opponent. So, it’s a very important thing but we don’t want to put excuses. They are a very good team, they played fantastic. Winning sometimes is, what I have said before, we arrive one second later. But I think we are improving, we are building a fantastic team, and we are optimistic, of course.

Interviewer: How are the new guys settling in? We’ve seen Eric out there. We saw Mkhitaryan score a goal today. How are they getting on?

Ander: Very good. I think they are very confident out on the pitch – you can see that. But, we are a team. We want to be all fit as soon as possible. That is why we are working so hard these days. Just it is that, we train two times – so, you can feel it as well on the pitch. But, we want to be ready for Leicester, you want to win the next title of the season. So, it is the most important thing, when you have played real games, if you can say that.

Dwight: Obviously, from a personal point of view, manager played you 90 minutes this afternoon. Under Jose, what is it like so far?

Ander: I think… we know what we have to do. One of the things we realize already, is that every player has very clear what they have to do. We want very aggressive players in midfield – we want to have the ball, but we do not just want to have the ball. We want to attack, he wants to attack – and I think we are going to see a very offensive Man United, but of course, when we want to be compact, we are gonna do it as well.

Interviewer: Luke Shaw, his performance. How impressed have you been since he’s come back?

Ander: He has played 90 minutes, I think, after 8 months of not playing. So, you can see it is very very quick. Sometimes of course, when you are not used to getting the ball in your feet, you can make some mistakes. But what we want from Luke is he gets on the last line to makes some crosses, and he’s doing it. We are very happy with him, and we are very happy for him, because it has been very very tough for him. But, we have one of the best left backs in the world, and we have to take advantage of it.

Dwight: Just one more question. Being around the team, the team seems very relaxed. Is that because of the new manager? Because under van Gaal, it looks a little bit more tense.

Ander: I don’t want to talk about the past. I think the most important thing for Man United is the future, what is happening now. So, what I can say right now is we want to get the ball to attack, we want to create as many chances as possible. You can see that we have taken some chances in front of goal, but just because we are not fit enough, we did not finish them. I said that already before. We want to know what we have to do very clear, compact, aggressive and then finish the chances.

Interviewer: Just before you go, we appreciate you joining us, are you looking forward to facing City in the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing?

Ander: Of course, City is our city rival. It is very important for us. In my time in Manchester United, I have won more games than I have lost. That is important for our fans. But, I say that already, the most important thing is Leicester – we want to win the first title of the season, because we are Manchester United an we want to fight for everything.