Jose Mourinho bemoaned Manchester United’s set-piece defending as the team succumbed to a fifth Premier League defeat of the season at Newcastle on Sunday.
According to Manchester Evening News, Matt Ritchie latched onto a loose ball from Ayoze Perez’s knockdown in the 65th minute to rifle past David de Gea and inflict a second successive away loss on United, which is a mammoth 16 points behind the league top team Manchester City.
Perez rose above Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic, who were the nearest to him, to meet Jonjo Shelvey’s long free-kick and Mourinho noted that neither of his central midfielders rose to challenge the Spanish striker.
“It’s a lateral free kick,” Mourinho said. “It’s not even a lateral free-kick from a dangerous position, it is really far from the goal. I remember clearly a Newcastle player jumping and two of my players looking at him and staying on the floor. So the guy won the ball in the air.”
The free-kick came as a result of a Chris Smalling dive just inside the United half, which Mourinho had no gripes with.
“No complaints, I don’t like to complain about referees on this kind of situation,” Mourinho added. “A little bit like the first goal against Tottenham, I could complain that the goal is illegal, that Harry Kane is 10 meters inside our half, but I think it is more logical to complain about our mistake with the long ball. And today what I know is we missed the challenge in the air and, we missed the second ball, I coach my players, not the referees, I have to be more disappointed with my players for losing the challenge.”
“We train, we work, we organize, the players have their individual jobs in situation in defense, the players know there are responsibilities,” he explained.
United has conceded goals from aerial deliveries in four of their five Premier League defeats this season.
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