Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho was frustrated after his side were held to a 2-2 draw at Stoke City on Saturday.
Stoke ended the Reds 100 percent winning start to the Premier League season.
Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku cancelled out goals from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting for the Potters.
Mourinho, who cut a frustrating figure after the game admitted that the host deserve to get a point.
“It was a difficult match for different reasons. My players, after the international break, are not the same. They weren’t performing at their normal level but we were in the game, we fought hard and we were closer to winning than losing.
“Stoke are big, strong and powerful in the air. They fought hard and probably deserved a point. It is not what we came for but a point is a point. The performance was more than enough for the point and enough for the three points.”
Mourinho also lamented that the internation break played a huge impact in their game.
United’s Romelu Lukaku being cloed down by Kourt Zouma/ Twitter
“It was easy for me to feel that national teams leave a stamp on the players – they are not so fast, they are not so creative, they are not so sharp, they are not so strong, so ready, so focused from the mental point of view.
“Fifteen days away, playing two matches, travelling, some not playing, training, who knows why and how. It was easy to feel that some of the players were not in their best shape and the opponent is always a difficult opponent to play. The characteristics that the stadium gives to the football matches is always hard here. Could we win? Of course we could. We made a big mistake for the second goal and missed a couple of chances but it’s a result that I accept.”
The Portuguese tactician, however, remained positive about the players’ character, coming from behind to lead before being pegged back to a draw.
“It’s not easy to come from behind here, especially with the handicap of the players’ condition. Matic played the game of his life for the national team, some of the boys played two consecutive matches in three days. Eric Bailly arrived yesterday to train and to travel. The national teams make it normally difficult for us, so I’m not disappointed. I’m not disappointed at all.”
“We tried, we were the only team that tried to do it in the last 20 minutes. But they defended, they were lucky with some late rebounds in front of the goal. Maybe Romelu Lukaku could have had a better contact with the ball and score with the cross from the right but that’s the result and there’s nothing we can do now but try to be ready for Tuesday (against Basel).”
