Jose Mourinho hails Man Utd’s new ‘mad dog’ after Barcelona display
Jose Mourinho has hailed Scott McTominay as Manchester United’s new “mad dog”.
The comments came after United lost 1-0 to Barcelona at Old Trafford in the Champions League.
Scott McTominay as United’s main destroyer? Four things to know…
- McTominay made his breakthrough at United under Mourinho in the 2016-17 season.
- He then made 23 appearances in all competitions in the resulting season, sometimes starting in favour of Paul Pogba.
- Such was Mourinho’s commitment to the player, McTominay is still largely associated with the Mourinho era at the club.
- Against Barcelona, the Scottish international came in for wide praise for his performance against the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Lionel Messi.
https://audioboom.com/posts/7227287-barcelona-will-rely-on-their-jon-snow-to-deal-with-any-man-utd-counter-attack
Mourinho famously nurtured McTominay, seemingly playing him out of spite towards other United midfielders at times.
In any case, the Scot is proving his worth in his own right, and put in a stellar performance against Barcelona in the 1-0 loss.
“Barcelona was not Barcelona yesterday,” Mourinho told RT. “I think United had one player that was responsible for that because I think Scott McTominay in midfield he was like what I used to call – but when I use this expression it’s obviously in the total positive sense of the word. He was a mad dog.
“Afraid of nobody. Imposing his respect. Pressing really hard with a huge range of movement a huge area of pressing. Pressing higher and creating problems in Barcelona building up then really aggressive on the duels.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljBmUtfuAX4
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‘1-0 result a missed opportunity for both clubs’ – Mourinho
On the significance of the 1-0 result, Mourinho said: “I think it was a missed opportunity for both. I don’t think they were good. Both. So if one of them was better, probably in Barcelona’s case they could kill the tie. Which they didn’t because 1-0 is open.
“And Manchester United… could get a different result. United [had] zero shots on target. Barcelona I think two or three. And what surprised me more with Barcelona is that they didn’t have efficiency on the passing.
“The majority of the matches when they are not able to create they are not able to score more goals at least they keep the ball. They keep the ball from their opponent and the opponent feels always in some mental weakness because they are always running and chasing the ball.”
