..::Football IV::..

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Aguero: I'll score even more under Guardiola

Sergio Aguero believes Pep Guardiola has already made him a better player just two months into their time together at Manchester City.Aguero scored a hat-trick in the 4-0 Champions League victory against Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday night to take his tally for the season to nine goals in five games.

Guardiola had been monitoring the City squad before he arrived in England and had decided before pre-season that Aguero needed to up his work rate if he were to fit into his plans.

The two men have only been working alongside each other since the middle of July, but Aguero believes his manager’s demands are already paying dividends.

“I’m really happy with the new manager,” he told reporters. “He is one of the managers that have helped me most in my career, I’ve improved my game near the box and scoring goals, with Guardiola I will score more goals.”

Aguero took just eight minutes to open the scoring against Gladbach having returned to the City line-up after missing Saturday’s Manchester derby through suspension.

He added a penalty later in the first half before rounding goalkeeper Yann Sommer late on to seal his second hat-trick of the season so far, but he insists he could have played better.

“By not playing some games you lose some rhythm but I am happy to be playing again and for the goals. The first half perhaps I wasn’t so happy, I lost a lot of balls but the second half was a bit better. Pep demands the same of everyone and he does the same to me, I have to help to mark, to help on the offensive side and with everything – defend and attack.”City reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season and Aguero says reaching the last four once again is the club’s minimum aim.

“Obviously the Champions League is not easy, but our objective is to try to get where we got last season – the semi-final. There is a process first but we have to keep going this way and hopefully we can get much further. We have great players and a great team and we can do it “I still have three more years here. I hope to achieve that [winning the tournament] at some point as it’s really important for any player. Obviously the Champions League is not easy, there are a lot of fantastic teams as well. But my idea and club’s idea is the same: to try to win this competition."

 

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Conte confirms Luiz to start against Liverpool

Antonio Conte has confirmed David Luiz will start for Chelsea in Friday's Premier League encounter with Liverpool and is confident the Brazil international will be ready.

The centre-back re-joined Chelsea from Paris Saint-Germain in the closing hours of the transfer window, but Conte was quick to stress he would need time to adapt to his new surroundings and benched the 29-year-old for the 2-2 draw with Swansea.Luiz will feature from the start against Liverpool, though, with John Terry unavailable due to an ankle injury.

"Tomorrow David Luiz will play for the first time with us," Conte said at a media conference. "We are confident. We expect him to play well. We know he is a good player. We are working to get him in the best condition to get the best out of him.

"I said he needs time because that is the truth. It is normal that a new player needs time to adapt to your idea of football. But we need him against Liverpool."He has worked hard these days. I am confident he will do well."

Marcos Alonso also still awaits his Chelsea debut following his move from Fiorentina, but Conte stressed the Spaniard is ready to make his bow if needed."Alonso is also a good player and I am pleased with him. He is showing good things on the training pitch. I think he is ready to play," Conte added.

"He can play tomorrow if necessary. After the match against Liverpool, we have another tough game against Leicester and that could be another good opportunity for him."Chelsea sit three points clear of Liverpool after four games, but Conte expects a difficult match against Jurgen Klopp's men.

"I expect a strong match, a tough game against a strong team," the Italian continued."I think Liverpool are a really good team. They play with high intensity and bring many players in attacking situations.

"They are a very good team. We must pay great attention. We know Liverpool are a very strong team."

 

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Conte not worried about potential Diego Costa ban

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is not overly concerned Diego Costa will receive a ban for his fifth booking at some stage this season and believes the Spain international is still improving in this area of his game.Costa has been a key figure for Chelsea this campaign and has already netted four times in as many Premier League outings.

He has also been booked three times, though, and is now just two yellow cards away from a suspension.

"Diego Costa is on three yellow cards and he is two cards away from a ban. But I am not too worried about this," Conte said at a news conference ahead of Friday's match against Liverpool.

"Diego is still growing in this area. He showed a great attitude in our last game [against Swansea City] in a difficult situation. Diego is a passionate man and I want him to put this passion in his game in the right way. And he is doing just this.

"It is hard to tell your players that they have to pay attention because they risk a ban. Diego is aware of this. It is important for him not to get booked for strange situations."It can happen for tackles and when it is necessary. He is an important player for us.

"But we also have Michy Batshuayi, who is also a good player and is ready to show what he can do. Plus we have Ruben [Loftus-Cheek] who can play in this position."

 

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Conte adamant Fabregas' future is at Chelsea

Antonio Conte has dismissed suggestions Chelsea are ready to sell Cesc Fabregas in the January transfer window and is adamant the Spain international still has a role to play at Stamford Bridge.

Fabregas has lost his starting berth following the arrival of Conte as the new man in charge and has played just 26 minutes in four Premier League games.

AC Milan are believed to be keeping a close eye on the 29-year-old's situation with a view to a potential January move, but Conte has stressed Fabregas is going nowhere for now."No [we are not considering selling him]. Fabregas is in my plans," Conte said at a news conference.

"We all know he is a fantastic player. Cesc is a great player."He is training well and making team selection difficult for me."Fabregas joined Chelsea from Barcelona in 2014 and has made 99 appearances in all competitions for the club since.

He has a contract with the Premier League side until June 2019.

 

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La Liga to investigate Barca over Neymar case

La Liga has officially launched an investigation into the deal Barcelona agreed with the Spanish Public Prosecutor's Office in relation to Neymar's transfer.Earlier in 2016, the Spanish High Court threw out a case that alleged fraud in the Brazil international's transfer from Santos in 2013.

Barca agreed to pay a fine of €5.5million in order to close legal proceedings but the situation is seemingly not at an end yet, with La Liga seeking more details from the club.

"Following widespread media reports, La Liga confirms an informative hearing will be launched with FC Barcelona in relation to the agreement reached between the club's board and the Spanish Public Prosecutor's Office in the Neymar legal case," read a statement from the Spanish league's office.

The deal exonerated former president Sandro Rosell and current chief Josep Maria Bartomeu of blame, which drew criticism from former president Joan Laporta who claimed "the honour of the club is at stake".

 

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Griezmann splits with agent to represent himself

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has opted to represent himself after splitting from his agent.

The Frenchman, who was the Player of the Tournament at Euro 2016, has been linked with a number of moves away from the Vicente Calderon in recent months
Premier League duo Manchester United and Chelsea were among the rumoured suitors, but the striker opted to stay in Madrid.

However, Griezmann's decision to dispense of the services of Spanish agency Grupo Santos after their previous contract expired could reignite their interest."From now I'm going to operate without an agent," he told L'Equipe. "But I will always have the advice of my father and also my mentor, Eric Olhats."

Olhats is the Real Sociedad scout who discovered Griezmann, taking him to the Anoeta, where he scored 52 goals in all competitions for the club as they re-established themselves in LaLiga.

The 25-year-old joined Atleti in 2014 and has established himself as first choice under Diego Simeone, scoring 59 in 110 appearances.

 

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Gundogan: Five months out injured is nothing for me!

Manchester City new boy Ilkay Gundogan says his five-month layoff was nothing compared to his previous injury problems.Gundogan became City’s first signing of the summer at the start of June but only made his debut on Wednesday night after recovering from a dislocated kneecap.

The Germany international missed the entire 2013-14 season and the start of the following campaign thanks to a back problem, but had managed to avoid any serious troubles until May of this year when he fell awkwardly while playing basketball.

City went ahead with his signing despite that setback and he started to repay that faith with a fine performance in the 4-0 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League.

Gundogan received a standing ovation from the Etihad Stadium crowd after being withdrawn in the 81st minute, and after the match he brushed aside the suggestion that his latest period on the sidelines had been difficult.

“I was always confident I would be back,” he told reporters. “I am used to being injured and five months was nothing for me – with my back I was injured for more than a year.

“This is football, it happens. Injuries are part of it, it's the way you handle these situations and I was always confident I would be back. I am back a little earlier than I thought.”

City boss Pep Guardiola admitted in his post-match press conference that he had not expected Gundogan to play so enthusiastically for so long.

It has been suggested that the Spaniard will look to manage Gundogan’s game time in a bid to reduce further injury problems, but the 25-year-old says he is ready to feature against Bournemouth on Saturday.

“He [Guardiola] hasn't said anything to me and if I feel good I want to play and make a difference, but he will decide,” Gundogan said. “There are a lot of games in the next few weeks and I need to get used to it.“Coming from Germany, and having no winter break and two cup competitions means everything is changing for me.

“I think I am ready to play again on Saturday if the manager needs me.”Gundogan impressed in an advanced midfield role in the absence of David Silva, who missed the match with a minor thigh injury, and he believes he will be vying to start in that position rather than dropping deeper to compete with the in-form Fernandinho.He added: “I think it is my position. I can also play a more defensive role, but this is our formation at the moment, with Fernandinho as number six and David and Kevin [De Bruyne] as No.8 and No.10.

“David was out and I played there against Gladbach – it's a quite good position.“There are so many incredible, talented players, but it's a long season with so many games and we want to compete in all competitions.“It gives you a good feeling having so many good players around you – you can only profit from that.

“We have big targets this season so we need these players, and we still have injured players like Vincent [Kompany] to come back.”

 

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Viktoria Plzen 1-1 Roma: Giallorossi stutter once more in Europe

Roma took an immediate lead against Viktoria Plzen but were unable to hang on to their advantage as they ground out a 1-1 draw in their Europa League opener on Thursday.

The Giallorossi made their Europa League bow at Doosan Arena after being dumped out of the Champions League qualifying round by Porto.Luciano Spalletti's men immediately looked eager to make an impression and Diego Perotti put them 1-0 up after just four minutes, converting a penalty that Stephan El Shaarawy won.

Slack defending allowed Plzen to equalise shortly after through Marek Bakos, however, and Roma were unable to find the winner even though Radja Nainggolan hit the post and El Shaawary had chances later on.

The Italian outfit enjoyed the perfect start to the match when El Shaawary was brought down in the area by Ale Mateju and the referee pointed to the spot.Perotti casually notched the opener from 12 yards, slotting his strike into the bottom corner.

However, the lead would last only seven minutes as the home side equalised through a fine headed finish from Bakos. The striker drifted in between Federico Fazio and Juan Jesus to guide his effort past Alisson into the net.

Alisson kept the scores level when he denied Michal Duris by diving low to his left to prevent the Slovakian’s header finding the bottom corner. At the other end of the pitch, Roma came close to regaining their advantage, but Nainggolan’s low strike from the edge of the box cracked off the woodwork.

Neither team was able to create many meaningful openings in the second half, with the visitors’ best chance being spurned by substitute Edin Dzeko as the forward attempted to round keeper Petr Bolek, but was denied by the hands of the Czech.

Plzen struggled for a quality delivery into the box until the 81st minute as Milan Petrzela curled a cross in from the right, only for Bakos to miss his diving header as the ball struck his hand instead with the goal at his mercy.

In the dying seconds of the contest Petrzela lined up a strike from distance that forced Alisson into a leaping save to ensure that the Italian side earned a point, although the shot appeared to be heading over anyway.

 

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Feyenoord 1-0 Man Utd: Late Vilhena strike downs Red Devils

Tonny Vilhena proved Feyenoord's hero as they upset Manchester United to win their Europa League Group A opener 1-0 at De Kuip on Thursday.

In a lacklustre encounter in Rotterdam it was the hosts that earned a big three points through Vilhena's 79th minute goal, despite suspicions of offside in the build-up.

The defeat marks further disappointment for United after last weekend's 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City, which was their first competitive loss under Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese made eight changes from that loss and, despite boasting the likes of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, the visitors failed to click and seldom troubled the hosts' defence.

And they were duly punished by a Feyenoord side flying this season, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men sitting top of the Eredivisie having won five from five.After a solid start to the Mourinho era, United are now under pressure for the first time and will seek a swift return to winning ways against Watford in the Premier League on Sunday.

Feyenoord saw plenty of the ball early doors and David de Gea had to get down low to hold onto a bending effort from Steven Berghuis.

United's play was scrappy at times with lone striker Rashford guilty of a few misplaced passes and too often running into dead ends, while their midfield struggled for fluency.

The visitors missed the best chance of the half, though, when Matteo Darmian teed up Martial on the edge of the area, only for the France forward to fizz a half-volley past the right-hand post when he should have at least hit the target.

But it was Feyenoord that finished the half stronger and Jens Toornstra disappointingly slashed wide from the right of the penalty area.United initially started the second half with more intent, but soon reverted back to the more pedestrian tempo adopted in the opening 45 minutes.Feyenoord continued to probe and Karim El Ahmadi flashed a 25-yard effort wide of the left-hand post.

Pogba, who was largely ineffective, tried his luck from a similar distance but was also unsuccessful.Mourinho had seen enough and brought on Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a bid to add some spark to United's attack.

The Swede almost made a swift impact from an Ashley Young free-kick, but just failed to make clean contact with the header on the stretch.And United were undone in the 79th minute as the noise levels in De Kuip rose significantly.

Nicolai Jorgensen may have been just offside when he was sent clear down the right and he cut back for Vilhena to provide a cool side-footed finish from just inside the penalty area that De Gea could not keep out.

The goal finally sparked a response from United and they piled forward in the closing stages but, despite a well-hit long-range free-kick from Ibrahimovic that was saved by Brad Jones, it proved a fruitless search for an equaliser.

 

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Let's be real – Torres rubbishes early Simeone exit

Fernando Torres has dismissed speculation that Diego Simeone has had his contract at Atletico Madrid shortened and believes he remains just as focused on the club.

Reports in Spain suggest the Atleti boss has negotiated with the club over reducing the length of his current deal, meaning it will expire in 2018 rather than 2020.

However, Torres stressed the issue was not something he wanted to hinder the team's pursuit of silverware, insisting that his side's focus should be on having a successful season."It's a hypothesis that is not real," he told reporters. "Let's be real. We are one month into the season and this is a very important year for us.

"We want to grow after a very good season with a very complicated [Champions League] final. We are not going to get distracted thinking about what could happen nine months or a year from now.

"We aren't going to create obstacles for ourselves. I have no idea if those reports are true or not."Simeone has been Atleti manager since December 2011 and won La Liga in the 2013-2014 campaign.

He has twice reached the Champions League final, but revealed he was considering his future after losing to city rivals Real Madrid in the showpiece match for the second time in the space of three seasons."What he said after Milan [the final in May], it was tough on all of us," Torres added. "But it makes sense that each one of us express ourselves.

"He said what he felt and it didn't change anything between all of us. It should never be wrong to speak from one's heart. We are very happy that he has decided to stay - he is the fundamental base in this Atleti team.

"We want this year to be different. We want to keep growing after a great year."

 

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Mourinho: Harsh to judge United's fringe players

Jose Mourinho refused to pass judgement on his Manchester United fringe players after his side were beaten 1-0 in their Europa League opener at Feyenoord.

United put in a disjointed performance at De Kuip and were caught by a 79th-minute sucker punch from Tonny Vilhena that proved enough to earn all three points for Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men in the Group A fixture.

The likes of Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera were all given the chance to stake a claim for a starting berth having had limited minutes this term, but United endured a frustrating evening.

Despite a poor result, Mourinho feels it is unfair to judge United's performance against a settled Feyenoord team who are currently top of the Eredivisie with five wins from as many games.

"I don't want to go in that direction, I don't want to personalise," he told BT Sport."Some players are playing their first minutes of the season, there have not been many minutes for them.

"Obviously some played better than others but you can't judge on one game. They play with the same boys week after week, same team for every competition against some guys playing their first minutes."

Mourinho, though, did concede United would field a side that looked more like the team that lost last weekend's derby to Manchester City against Watford on Sunday."It's obvious, we left [Antonio] Valencia, [Luke] Shaw back home for example to be fresh," he added. "So we go back to a normal team without so many changes."

Mourinho also felt hard done by Feyenoord's winner, with suspicions of offside against Nicolai Jorgensen, who provided the assist for Vilhena."We were always in control, trying to win and they were trying not to lose," he said.

"We were trying to push and they were collapsing a little bit because physically they were in trouble and, exactly in that moment, we lose the game. Double unlucky because he [Jorgensen] was offside."

 

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Scholes urges Mourinho not to drop Rashford following Feyenoord loss

Paul Scholes believes Marcus Rashford has done enough to keep his starting place at Manchester United and urged Jose Mourinho not to drop him.

Teen sensation Rashford, 18, made his first start of the new campaign in Thursday's Europa League opener against Feyenoord after he made decisive contributions off the bench against Hull City and Manchester City in the Premier League.

However, the match at De Kuip ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Old Trafford outfit, with Rashford unable to force a breakthrough.

Nevertheless, Red Devils legend Scholes believes Mourinho should keep the faith in Rashford by starting him against Watford on Sunday.

"I think he did enough last week in the Manchester derby,” Scholes told BT Sport when asked whether Rashford should retain his starting berth against Watford. “He gave [Man City defender Bacary] Sagna a real tough time.

"He's got great ability to run at a player. He looked like he had a goal in him. "I think the left-hand side and right-hand side are problems for United. I don't think those positions are set in stone for anybody. There's a chance there.

"I think Marcus is the best one to play in that position, especially at Watford."

 

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Southampton 3-0 Sparta Prague: Austin double inspires Saints victory

Charlie Austin scored a first-half double as Southampton made a winning start to their Europa League campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Sparta Prague.
It was the first time Saints were playing in the competition proper for 13 years having lost in the play-off round last term.

Saints boss Claude Puel made seven changes to his starting line-up and was rewarded with a committed performance and his first competitive victory since taking the reins at the St Mary's Stadium.

Austin could hardly have made a stronger case for a regular place in Puel's XI, winning and scoring a penalty after five minutes before doubling Southampton's lead with a headed goal just before the half-hour mark.

Jay Rodriguez, who had been linked a loan move away from Southampton in the transfer window, then finished a brilliant team move in second-half injury time to complete a comfortable evening for the hosts.

Austin has now scored on his Premier League and European debuts for Saints and his performance, along with those of James Ward-Prowse and Maya Yoshida, will give supporters hope that their side has the strength in depth to make their eighth European campaign a successful one.

Sparta were Europa League quarter-finalists last season and Southampton's dominance over them will send out a strong message to fellow Group K opponents Inter and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Austin surged forward at the first opportunity for Southampton and it was his cross that struck Costa Nhamoinesu on the arm after five minutes, prompting the referee to point to the spot.

The 27-year-old had to fend off an irate Dusan Tadic to take the penalty before calmly slotting the ball beyond the reach of visiting goalkeeper Tomas Koubek.

Saints' bright start continued when Virgil van Dijk headed Ward-Prowse's corner narrowly over the crossbar, while Sparta had little to show other than a Vyacheslav Karavaye cross that Lukas Julis turned narrowly wide.

Austin had the ball in the net again when he turned in a Cuco Martina cross with a diving header only to be adjudged offside, but the same duo combined to make it 2-0.

Martina's cross from the right was met with a downward header from Austin, which slipped under Koubek's hand and into the net.

Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster dealt with Yoshida's risky back-pass late in the half, but Southampton were otherwise untroubled before the break.

Tadic cut inside from the right flank to test Koubek with a low drive early in the second half as the hosts immediately reestablished their superiority and controlled the flow of the game.

Sparta - who are second in the Czech First League - lost Lukas Vacha to injury, compounding the problems faced by coach Zdenek Scasny, whose side looked bereft of ideas to break Southampton down.

The visitors' best attempt of the evening came from substitute David Lafata, who pounced on a rebound from Vaclav Kadlec's shot and hit a sweetly struck drive that was well saved by Forster.

But Saints swept forward with one minute of injury time remaining and Shane Long squared to Rodriguez, who coolly side-footed home the third.

 

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Inter 0-2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva: Woeful Nerazzurri whipped at home

Inter slumped to a sorry 2-0 defeat at home to Hapoel Be'er Sheva in their Europa League opener on Thursday.

The hosts were hoping to build on Frank De Boer's first victory as Nerazzurri coach last weekend against Pescara, but the coach put out a rotated side that still featured Marcelo Brozovic and Eder.

It was the latter who had the best chance for the San Siro side when he struck the woodwork, but it was Hapoel who took the lead when Miguel Vitor struck after half time.

Despite throwing Antonio Candreva on in a bid to restore parity, Inter found themselves 2-0 down and out to Maor Buzaglo's splendid free-kick.

The fallen Italian giants have won just one of their first three Serie A games under De Boer, with Hapoel's win ensuring an equally miserable start to their continental campaign.

Far from being a smash-and-grab, though, this was a thoroughly deserved triumph for the Israeli champions, who could have led long before their two goals which both came in the second half.Captain Mauro Icardi had bagged all three of his team's prior goals this season, and the Milan outfit looked predictably toothless as he started the match on the bench.

Though Hapoel came into the game winless in their last five European away matches, it was they who started the brighter and should have taken an early lead.
Buzaglo's centre from the right found Lucio Maranhao completely unmarked, but he directed his header wide with Samir Handanovic rooted to the spot.

Inter, having made seven changes to a winning side, could not match the aggressive tempo of their busy visitors, who squandered another headed chance as Buzaglo stretched onto Ben Bitton's cross.

Handanovic was soon called into action for the first time, blocking Maranhao's drive after Ovidiu Hoban had sent him clear of the hosts' creaking back-line.

Inter finally forged a first sight of goal shortly before half-time and were so nearly rewarded. Yuto Nagatomo's delivery from the left skipped through the penalty area to the far side, where Eder steadied himself before rattling a shot against the post. Eder zipped another effort wide at the start of the second period, but a dreary display was belatedly punished in the 54th minute.
A smart free-kick routine saw Buzaglo slip Maranhao in on the right, and his low ball across the face of goal was met by Vitor with a clinical finish to stun the home crowd.

Hapoel were not finished there, either. Handanovic stood up to beat away Buzaglo's blast and then blocked Maranhao's shot at his near post as the Brazilian again wreaked havoc.

Their next attempt was dragged off target by Tony Nwakaeme, before Hoban's swaying strike dipped wide on the opposite side.Another set-piece would result in another goal, though. This time Buzaglo went direct from the free-kick and curled magnificently into the near top corner.

Icardi was summoned from the bench, but even his presence could not provide Inter any relief and Hapoel instead coasted to victory, with Bitton even clipping the bar with a fine late lob.

 

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Diego Costa: I am a bad loser!

Chelsea striker Diego Costa says he hates to lose and admits he finds it hard to contain his emotions on the pitch if things do not go his way.

The forward – booked three times in the Blues' first four Premier League games - has often been criticised for his attitude on the pitch.

Nevertheless, he feels his occasionally petulant behaviour is all down to his desire to win after appearing rejuvenated under the leadership of new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.

"When we go to the pitch, we want to win, that's all we want to do. And when the game finishes, if you win, you go home happy," Costa told the club's official magazine.

"If I lose a game, it's a different frame of mind when I finish the match. I go home and I feel upset. So you always have to know that you are going to leave everything on the pitch, every drop of sweat, to help the team win the game. "I don't like losing, I don't like to be in a losing position and I show this a lot. I demonstrate on the pitch.

"I believe my colleagues feel the same about losing, but everyone shows it differently on the pitch and I show a lot of spirit in not wanting to lose a game. We always have to show our character on the pitch, and I show my feelings."

 

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No miracle for Man Utd players' souls - Mourinho

Jose Mourinho accepts there are "no miracles with the players' souls" when it comes to rebuilding confidence at Manchester United.

The former Chelsea boss made a fine start as manager at Old Trafford, winning the Community Shield against Leicester City and the opening three Premier League matches of the season.

However, United lost the derby 2-1 to Manchester City on Sunday and were lacklustre amidst heavy rotationin Thursday's 1-0 Europa League defeat at Feyenoord.

United largely underachieved in Louis van Gaal's two campaigns at the helm and Mourinho was asked about the difficulty he has in restoring confidence at Old Trafford given their difficulties in recent seasons at a post-match news conference.But the Portuguese gave a bullish answer, saying: "When you lose matches there are no miracles in terms of the players' souls.

"If you win matches, people are happy, you lose matches and people are sad and feel it. That's the normal nature of football players.

"But of course I'm here not to let them be in a negative mood, or a negative period because we lost two matches.

"I think we had two matches where we didn’t play well for 90 minutes, but two matches where we deserved a better result than what we did."Mourinho is also refusing to pay too much credence to the back-to-back defeats and insists he was not "on the moon" after United's positive start.

"When we won the Community Shield and three Premier League matches I was not on the moon saying we are a phenomenal team that will destroy every opponent," he added. "I said, 'Yes good start, very good start' but I never was on the moon. I know the situation is not click your fingers and everybody is perfect.

"To be honest we didn't play phenomenal matches in two defeats but I think losing both is a punishment for the team because we deserved more."

 

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Mourinho expects more ambition from Manchester United

Jose Mourinho was disappointed by Manchester United's lack of ambition in the first-half of Thursday's 1-0 Europa League defeat at Feyenoord.

United, who made eight changes from the team that lost 2-1 to Manchester City in last Sunday's derby, were lacklustre in the opening 45 minutes at De Kuip in the Group A contest.

The Red Devils did show more urgency after the break, but were caught cold by Tonny Vilhena's 79th-minute winner despite suspicions of offside against Nicolai Jorgensen - who provided the assist.And manager Mourinho blamed United for being off the pace in the opening period compared to their urgency after the break.

"I think in the first half we did not have an especially ambitious attitude," he told reporters at his post-match press conference."I am not saying bad, but I'm saying not with the ambition you need to win football matches.

"The second half was different, it was exactly when we were trying to win and Feyenoord was trying not to lose that they scored the goal, which I think we didn't deserve."

Asked if that left him disappointed, Mourinho responded: "Yes, I always expect maximum ambition and maximum focus it doesn't matter the competition or the opponent."I am very pragmatic in my approach to matches and competitions, the next match and next competition we play is always the most important.

"So I looked at this game, and you can say okay you changed eight players, but I played with a good team, I played with enough good players to win the match."In the second half they answered to my words at half-time."

Mourinho also rejected any notion that fatigue could be a problem in Sunday's Premier League encounter against Watford given the raft of changes he made to the starting line-up."First of all I have players that are not here, I have players that didn't play here for 90 minutes, so it's not a problem of accumulation," he added.

"We play midday Sunday, we are professionals, let's not make an excuse for Sunday because we have to play these games. They have to be fit, they are, and they have to be mentally strong."

 

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Silva unavailable for Bournemouth game, confirms Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that David Silva is unavailable for Manchester City's home tie against Bournemouth on Saturday.

The Spain international has been one of the outstanding performers for the Catalan's side this season but will miss the Cherries' visit due to a minor muscle injury.Guardiola told reporters on Friday: "I think tomorrow he will not be able to play, I don't think.

"I haven't seen the doctor and David. I don't think it's a big problem but it happened two days ago so I don't think he will be able [to play].

City have won all four of their Premier League outings this season, beating arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, and top the table going into this weekend's round of fixtures.