Jose Mourinho Blasts 'Ridiculous' Manchester United Defending in Spurs Defeat

Jose Mourinho did not hold back in his assessment of his Manchester United team following their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, branding their defending "ridiculous." 

Christian Eriksen fired Spurs ahead after just 11 seconds, while Phil Jones scored an own goal 28 minutes later, and Mourinho did not mince his words, per MailOnline's Sami Mokbel:

"I don't think it's normal to concede a goal like we did after 15 seconds.

"Straight from kick-off is ridiculous. That goal after a few seconds has a big influence in the game because Tottenham can play the way they like to play.

"Both goals were ridiculous goals. The first goal is an accumulation of mistakes in spite of the fact that everything happened so fast."

The Lilywhites kicked off at Wembley Stadium and quickly picked out Harry Kane, who knocked the ball down for Dele Alli to flick into Eriksen's path.

Mourinho counted a multitude of errors, per Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News:

The Special One could scarcely believe it after the team's preparation for the game, adding, "My players have watched the Tottenham kick-off many, many times. It was a really, really bad goal."

United had chances to equalise with Jesse Lingard coming close, but Jones diverted Kieran Trippier's cross into his own net in the 28th minute.

Mourinho said:

"After the first goal the team had a good reaction—we were there and tried to create.

"The second goal is not ridiculous but unlucky. Mentally kills the team. A team to win matches needs to score goals and also defend well—on this occasion we were very bad."

By the end of the match, The Independent's Miguel Delaney believes it could have been a much bigger scoreline:

"

This should be about 5-0 Spurs - early United chances notwithstanding.

— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) January 31, 2018"

Spurs were a cut above throughout thanks to their impressive organisation and intensity, and they were fully deserving of their win.

United's centre-back pairing of Jones and Chris Smalling visibly struggled in the contest, though Mourinho's attacking lineup afforded them relatively little protection.

Anthony Martial, Lingard, Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku all started ahead of a two-man midfield comprised of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic—whose form hasn't been as strong of late as it was earlier in the campaign.

Football writer Liam Canning discussed the problems with the formation:

Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday's Oliver Holt believes the manager can still enjoy success this season if he reverts back to his more defensive approach:

After witnessing his side being dismantled by Spurs on Wednesday, Mourinho may well return to the somewhat cautious tactics he frequently employed against United's biggest opponents earlier in the campaign.

While it may not be pretty to watch, United appear more likely to get results in that case.

Ideally, Mourinho will be able to find a balance between solidity and attacking ambition—with the forward players available to him, the team should be able to cause problems for any side—but until another midfielder can be recruited in the summer, they're relying on Ander Herrera returning to the form he showed last year.