Manchester United battle Young Boys in their Champions League opener later today but the Red Devils players are not looking comfortable with the Stade de Suisse surface, venue for today’s game.
The clash is set to take place at the artificial surface pitch which is far different from the pitches used in the English Premier League.
Despite the condition of the pitch, Mourinho has called on his players to give their best to ensure they pick the maximum points.
According to the Portuguese manager, the pitch isn’t good enough for his players but they need to learn from Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, whom he believes is one of the best tennis players in the world.
He said Federer has his preferred court but he plays in other courts and tries to win as many completions as possible.
“Everybody knows that he (Roger Federer) has a favorite surface, but he has also to win on the surfaces that he is not in love with, so we have to do it.” He said
He told his players to ignore the pitch’s unfavourable conditions and focus on ensuring they start this season’s Champions League campaign on winning note.
In the same vein, the former Chelsea manager has called on reporters to be happy with the players who would be given the opportunity to execute the game.
According to Mourinho, the media shouldn’t criticize him for benching some players. He wants them to be glad with the players and not create division in the team with their baseless criticism.
“So, try to be a little bit happy with the ones that are playing and not to be critical with the ones that are not.” he advised reporters.
Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, and Valencia are all set to miss the game as they weren’t in the team’s travelling squad.
