Jose: I have my Europa final team in mind
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho admits he already has his Europa League final team in mind as he continues to rotate his players in the remainder of the Premier League campaign.
United succumbed to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon, but Mourinho was pleased his side came away unscathed on the injury front with the showpiece match in Stockholm less than two weeks away.
The boss revealed that rest periods are being methodically allocated to different players at different times with the versatile Daley Blind being the next star to take a break, having accumulated a number of matches in a short period of time.
"The most important thing for us is no injuries and some people having a proper rest," said at his post-match press conference on Sunday.
"Blind had to play 90 minutes, but the next match is for Blind to rest and we have to go like this, step by step, to rest people."
As for whether players can force their way into the team he'll send out to try to win the Europa League trophy, he commented:
"I will analyse the individual performances of the players and try to understand who can give me a little bit more for the final. Of course I have in my mind already what I think is going to be the team, but the players can influence decisions with positive or negative performances."
The chase for a top-four place in the Premier League table ended mathematically at the weekend as United fell seven points behind Manchester City and eight behind Liverpool with just two games left but Mourinho had previously stated his preference to qualify for the 2017/18 Champions League by winning the Europa League.
"I don't know other clubs, I don't know the way they think, I don't know what is important for them, but we, Manchester United, feel it is more important to win trophies than to finish in the top four," he reiterated after the Tottenham match.
"We know what we are doing and if we can win a third trophy [after the Community Shield and the EFL Cup] it would be magnificent for us because we know that it's a big objective. We know that if we lose the final we won't play in the Champions League next season. We know that, but we fight for trophies and probably other clubs finishing in the top four would like to be in our position to try and fight for the trophy."
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