José Mourinho admitted he tried to avoid the “arrogant” Tottenham attitude Dele Alli blamed for their 2-1 defeat at Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Spurs’ first loss under their new head coach came against his former club, with two Marcus Rashford goals securing victory for Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side after Alli’s equaliser.
Afterwards, the England midfielder stated “arrogance” and “overconfidence” cost his team and Mourinho agreed.
“I tried to fight exactly that state of mind,” he said. “I tried to tell them exactly the way United approach these matches at home – against Liverpool [1-1 draw], against Chelsea [4-0 win], always they start strong with people running, pressing, trying to lift the morale of the supporters.
“Normally they come from bad results against smaller teams so when they face the big teams people think it’s going to be more difficult for them. It’s not more difficult for them because the style changes and they feel comfortable against this style of play.
“In the second half we knew what we were going to do with the result at 1-1. After one minute you concede a goal. We have to blame ourselves. I think United must obviously be happy with the points, and overall they deserved it.”
Rashford returned a man-of-the-match display that was praised by his manager. “It’s the best he’s had under me,” said Solskjær.
“He was mature, strong against good Premier League players. His penalty [the winner] was calm and composed, and his first goal – we know he’s got those [long-range strikes in him and he had three or four chances.
“It’s like he was back on the playground or in the back garden. We want them to have fun, there’s nothing dangerous out there – just 75,00 people, wanting to see the best.”
The win lifts United to sixth ahead of Saturday’s derby at Manchester City. “The three points are massive for us” said Solskjaer.