Jose Mourinho: Mourinho: Yes I made changes, but these players were good enough to win

ByEurosport

Updated 16/09/2016 at 08:10 GMT

Jose Mourinho was forced to defend his selection before admitting his Manchester United players lacked ambition during their 1-0 loss at Feyenoord.

United were defeated in their opening Europa League game of the season after Tonny Vilhena struck a 79th-minute winner for the Dutch side.

Mourinho started Marcus Rashford up front, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic was on the bench, with club captain Wayne Rooney not making the trip.

Mourinho: United team was strong enough to beat Feyenoord

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And Mourinho, who made eight changes for their European clash, claimed his side were strong enough to compete.

"Okay I changed eight players, but I played with a good team. I played with enough good players to win the match," Mourinho said.

"In the second half, they answered my half-time words and it is not disappointing as it was in our best period that we lost the game."

"I think in first half we were not especially bad but we didn't have an ambitious attitude. We were not trying to win just content with controlling the game," added Mourinho.

"I always expect maximum ambition and focus, it doesn’t matter about the competition or the opponent.

"I am very pragmatic in my approach to matches and competitions. The next one we play is always the most important."

Asked about the biggest culprits, Mourinho refused to point fingers.

"Look I don't want to personalise. Some of the players were playing their first minutes of the season, not many minutes for them," Mourinho said.

"Obviously some played better than others but I have to understand that some of these players haven't played week after week like the other boys.

United will now turn their attentions to Sunday’s trip to Watford in the Premier League, where they are set to kick-off at midday.

"It is obvious that we left players like (Antonio) Valencia and (Luke) Shaw at home to play and to rest so we go back to a normal team without so many changes," Mourinho told BT Sport.

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