Jose Mourinho says people will be ready to “kill” him if Manchester United do not win the FA Cup this season. United face Chelsea in next month’s Wembley showpiece after beating Tottenham 2-1 in the semi-final on Saturday and Mourinho accepts there will be criticism if they do not overcome his former club. “When I don’t win, you kill me,” he said. “Because I almost do that all the time, when I don’t do it, you kill me, which is what you are all ready to do.” United are on course to finish second in the Premier League, the club’s highest finish since Sir Alex Ferguson bowed out as champion in 2013, but the team’s style has come into question and Manchester City winning the title with five games to spare has heightened scrutiny.
“I keep saying that I think we should have probably eight, nine, 10 more points than we had,” Mourinho added. “We could finish this season with 88, 89, 90 points. Not acceptable, the last defeat (1-0 at home to West Brom on April 15). Not acceptable, the performance at Huddersfield (2-1 defeat in October). Not acceptable, the performance at Newcastle (1-0 defeat in February).
“So, we lost a few matches that we should do better. Can we improve next season? Let’s try. “Can Manchester City keep this level or improve this level? Only they can say. “But if they have the team they have and if they are going to invest on top of the team they have, of course it is going to be very difficult for us.” When asked whether United would need to improve their side, Mourinho said: “We are going to invest the basic to improve our squad.”We need to find a replacement for Michael Carrick.
If Marouane Fellaini leaves, we need to find a replacement for Marouane Fellaini. “But in this moment, I don’t even think about next season or the final, I think about Arsenal (Premier League match at Old Trafford on April 29) because we need one point to finish top four, but we need seven points to finish second and we deserve to finish second and we have to finish second.”
