Jose Mourinho: Manchester United players were “fantastic” in China training session

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho insists his
team have been fantastic in training during their pre-
season tour of China.
The Red Devils played the first match of their tour on
Friday, with Borussia Dortmund inflicting the first defeat of
the Mourinho era with a comfortable 4-1 win.
The only highlight for United was new signing Henrikh
Mkitaryan opening his goalscoring account with the club,
as their defence was taken apart by the German side.
Speaking prior to the Dortmund defeat, Mourinho praised
his players for their approach to the tour, with their
application in training being commendable, despite some
‘easy’ excuses which could have been made.
Mourinho said, as reported by the Daily Mail: “It’s very
easy to be affected by the weather, to be affected by the
pitch which is dry and slow.
“It’s very easy to say ‘I’ve got jet lag, I didn’t sleep very
well’. We arrived, had lunch and commercial duties, but the
training in the first session was fantastic.
“So the attitude is very good. The appetite is very good.”
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager took over
from Louis van Gaal in May after the Dutchman won just
one trophy during his two-year stay at the club.
Mourinho will be hoping to bring the Premier League title
to Old Trafford for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s
departure in 2013, as well as retain the FA Cup.
However, he will face stiff competition from the likes of
Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte in what
promises to be one of the most exciting seasons in
England’s top tier.
United are scheduled to face bitter rivals Manchester City
on Monday but the game is under threat due to heavy rain
in Shanghai. If it goes ahead, the match will be the first
Manchester derby to take place on foreign soil.