And ahead of tonight’s game against Feyenoord in Rotterdam the Old Trafford boss has hit out at a nightmare week his side face next month because of their European commitments.
United face Liverpool at Anfield in a TV game on Monday October 17, Fenerbahce at home in the Europa League on the Thursday and round off the sequence with a trip to his old club Chelsea the following Sunday.
Mourinho is not relishing a return to a competition that set him on the road to fame as a coach when he won in its previous incarnation as the UEFA Cup with Porto back in 2003.
He freely admits he would prefer to be in the Champions League, and says his team selection will be made with one eye on Sunday’s noon kick-off at Watford - although he insists he wants to win the one trophy missing from United’s trophy cabinet.
“This is not a competition that Manchester United wants,” Mourinho said.
“It is not a competition I want, it is not a competition the players want. But it is a competition where we are and that’s the reality.
“We have to look to the competition with respect. We want to win it and that is the way we will approach it.
“It’s true that is more difficult to win the Premier League when you are playing in the Europa League.
“It would be better if we had the privilege of playing on a Monday after a Thursday night game to have one more day (recovery).
“But we haven’t been given that privilege and, in fact, the gift we have been given is to play Liverpool on the Monday BEFORE not the Monday after.
“So we play Liverpool on the Monday, Fenerbache on the Thursday and Chelsea on the Sunday. We know we are not going to get any support on that.”
Mourinho will ring the changes tonight after leaving behind a number of players, including skipper Wayne Rooney.
Rooney and Antonio Valencia have been rested, Jesse Lingard dropped while Luke Shaw (hamstring) and Henrikh Mkhitarayan (thigh) are injured.
Mourinho also confirmed that Phil Jones has been crocked again and will be out for a month after damaging knee ligaments in training.
