Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has complained that he “didn’t learn anything” from the club’s tour of the USA.
The summer has been a complicated one for the Red Devils who were without several World Cup stars for their International Champions Cup campaign, which concluded on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid.
Despite ending the tournament on a high thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera, the Portuguese was disgruntled with the experience as a whole claiming that he was unable to draw from the matches everything that he wanted.
“I didn't learn anything from the tour,” he said. “I know what Herrera, Juan Mata and Alexis are.
“I know the kids are very young and need time to grow up, I know my players gave everything and in the last 15 minutes, we are dead and they bring on Toni Kroos and Asensio and Isco and I thought we wouldn't resist but we did.
“That's the spirit we need, because our first two or three weeks in the Premier League are going to be really hard for us... we didn't prepare for that.”
Mourinho was able to draw some positives from the fixtures, pinpointing several players who particularly impressed him.
“People like Herrera, Eric Bailly, Matteo Darmian, Mata, all these guys, were phenomenal during the whole pre-season, playing almost every minute of every game,” he said.
“The game today - if we win 2-1, we lose 2-1 or draw 2-2 - it doesn't change anything but of course I know the players and I know I can count on them.
“I know that these guys are amazing professionals and I know that they give everything for the club, for the prestige of the club. The guys were absolutely phenomenal.
“My players were amazing in their effort but we have more effort in front of us because in a few days, we go to Munich and in 10 days, we start the Premier League.”
On Sunday, United conclude their pre-season campaign with a friendly against Bayern Munich in Germany before hosting Leicester City on Friday, August 10 in the Premier League opener.
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