Manchester United suffered their second league defeat in a row after falling 3-1 to Watford at Vicarage road on Sunday afternoon.
United lost to rivals, Manchester City 2-1 and then lost 1-0 to Feyenoord in the Europa League. Today’s loss was not without incident, with many fans claiming Watford’s first goal should not have stood.
Miguel Britos dispossessed Anthony Martial in the buildup to Capoue’s first goal and despite replays showing Britos got the ball, Mourinho blamed the referees for the second match in a row.
Mourinho told reporters after the match; “In the first half for about 25 to 30 minutes we didn’t play well and that is something that we can control. We can improve, we can work on it.
“Then the referee and the linesman’s mistake is not under my control. I can’t do anything to improve it. That [the Martial incident] is an obvious situation.
“I think there is no debate, no controversy. I think that is an obvious situation, like it was obvious last week against Man City but it’s something I don’t control and I cannot even be critical of.
“In the eyes of everyone – it doesn’t matter whether you are a Manchester United fan or a Watford fan or whatever – it was obvious.
“In the second half we were much better. We get the draw [equaliser] and after that we were the team. Gomes makes a phenomenal save and the lucky moments again are not something we can control.
“We cannot control the referee, we cannot control the lucky moments. We had that period where, in the stadium, everyone was thinking about Manchester United going on to score a goal and win the game.
“The only thing we can control is our individual and collective mistakes like for their second goal.”
“The first factor depends on ourselves, it relates to our individual mistakes and collective mistakes as individual players and as a team. We have to improve something, it is in our hands.
“The second factor is the referee and I can’t control their mistakes. The story of the game is the result and not the ridiculous situation of the first goal.
“The third factor is luck, we didn’t have it. We were the best team when we lost.”
He added: “We started the season very well and had good results. I feel the first moment we had a defeat, a difficult situation, some of the boys are having a bit of difficulty coping with the negativity.
“You see Ashley Young, his mentality, the happiness and confidence he brought to the game is something more players need to have.”
Mourinho complained about the officiating after United’s loss to City, believing Claudio Bravo should have sent off for a foul on Wayne Rooney.
