Jose Mourinho criticises Anthony Martial and Antonio Valencia after pre-season match defeat

Jose Mourinho denounced Anthony Martial and Antonio Valencia after Manchester United’s 4-1 hammering by Liverpool. He criticized both his players for different reasons following the end of the fixture, after ruing over the absence of senior players.

The Red Devils took on fierce rivals Liverpool at the Michigan stadium in an International Champions Cup encounter. Sadio Mane’s 28^th minute penalty was cancelled out by Andreas Pereira’s goal. Since then, the Reds ran riot and dismantled United’s three-man defence.

Mourinho has been unhappy about many things going on at Old Trafford. Starting from the transfer activity to the referees in this match to the absence of a few players, the Portuguese boss has been a rather frustrated figure in recent days.

This time around, he was unhappy with Antonio Valencia’s physical condition. According to Jose, the right-back wasn’t fit enough to make an impact in the game. 'Antonio Valencia comes from holiday – I think too much holiday for him. His condition was not good when he was back, then injury and also go back,” he said.

Martial was allowed to leave the camp due to the birth of his second child. The match was played a couple of days after his child took birth, and Mourinho expected Martial to return by then. 'Anthony Martial has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank God – he should be here and he is not here,” the 55-year-old said.

He also added that the match was for ‘nothing.’

Manchester United face Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in their upcoming pre-season fixtures. Martial is expected to be available for those fixtures, while the experienced Valencia should come back fitter and stronger.

Mourinho needs to motivate his youngsters and work with his current crop of players, before the senior men join the squad. There are still 10 days left in the transfer window, which means signing a player or two shouldn’t be much of an issue for the Red Devils either. Hence, instead of pouring frustration out, he needs to create a more positive vibe amongst his players, staff and the board.