Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho pulled no punches while speaking to the media after his side but in a dismal performance away to Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon.
A 2-0 defeat to a newly promoted side who looked comfortable throughout was the first of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign for Mourinho's side, and while the goals were conceded directly after individual errors, Jose felt the need to share the blame around all who participated.
We've heard Mourinho say some wild stuff in the minutes following a loss in the past as he usually will think up whatever he can to deflect criticism away from his players, but there was none of that this time as he admitted that the better team won on the day.
You in the media like to individualise the defeat. I think that is very unfair. The mistakes, Lindelof for the second goal and Juan Mata for the first, belong in the context. If you play an amazing game and lose to an individual mistake, yes, you point the finger.
That is not the case here. In the first half I was waiting for the mistake, and they came from Mata and from Victor. It could have come from anyone because the attitude was really poor. When I lose matches I like to lose because the opponent was better and had more quality. When you lose because of your attitude, it is really bad.
I heard Ander Herrera say in the interview area that our attitude and desire were poor. Oh my God, when a player says that I think they should all go to the press conference because I cannot explain that.
Herrera praised the effort of the Huddersfield players while admitting that he and his teammates were not good enough, and Mourinho too was full of praise for David Wagner's men.
He also described the attitude of his players as the worst he has seen since he took over as manager.
They played like I like, they played with everything they have. Aggression, desire, motivation and sacrifice. We did not. The team that deserved to win won. Simple.
I don’t even remember a friendly match in which our attitude was so poor. In the second half we tried but they played against an opponent who was defending, they were playing against the watch and the wind was tremendous. We could have had a second goal but it would have been an undeserved draw.
It sounds like they got a good bollocking when he returned to the dressing room.
The performance against Benfica midweek was nothing to write home about despite the 1-0 win, and after the Liverpool stalemate last week it has been a while since Man Utd showed their early season form. The Carabao Cup on Tuesday offers the players' a chance to respond against Swansea City.
