Jose Mourinho was moaning again after Manchester United dropped more points at home to Burnley on Boxing Day.
The under-fire United boss pointed the finger of blame – but this time there were multiple targets.
His players, his transfer budget, his rivals and a dig at Manchester City were among the hot topics as Mourinho spoke after the match at Old Trafford.
Here, Sportsmail breaks down his comments – and assesses whether he has a point on each of them…
Jose Mourinho pointed the finger of blame at plenty of targets after United dropped points
In his press conference, he took aim at his players, his budget and rivals Manchester City
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No 1 – Spending
‘It is not enough, it is not enough. Manchester City buy full backs for the price of the strikers.’
In 2014 Luke Shaw cost almost £30million. Last year Gabriel Jesus cost £27m. So, it is not as if United do not spend.
It is well documented that City splurged an awful lot of money on the two summer full backs, Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, in the summer. Pep Guardiola identified them as weaknesses and they were corrected. They were the going rate and Daniel Levy certainly would not have sold Walker for any less.
Romelu Lukaku, meanwhile, cost £75m. He has scored four goals in his last 19 games. That is not the market’s fault. It is the striker’s fault, or his manager’s.
Playing him alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic was definitely not the wisest move on Boxing Day. Lukaku comes deeper looking for the ball as he gets more desperate and that is something United supporters have seen more and more of this month.
United’s £75m striker Romelu Lukaku is misfiring, and that is not the fault of the market
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (second right) and Lukaku cannot play alongside each other for United
No 2 – History
‘The price for the big clubs, the price for the big clubs is different from the other clubs.
‘The big, historical clubs are normally punished in the market for their history. When you speak about big football clubs, you are speaking about the history of the club.
‘We are in the second year of trying to rebuild a football team you know is not one of the best teams in the world.
‘Do you think AC Milan is not as big as us? You think they are not as big as we are? Do you think Real Madrid are not as big as we are? You think Inter Milan is not as big as we are?’
It is clear that United are being judged against their history, but they should be winning more
United could be further back in the league than Real Madrid are by the end of Wednesday night
It is unquestioned that United are being judged against their history. And it is certainly a reason why Sir Alex Ferguson decided to call time on his career in 2013. Yes, AC Milan are a way back in Serie A. But what about Inter and Juventus, who are a few points back from Napoli? They are both big, historic clubs. Or Real Madrid, with two Champions League titles on the trot?
It’s unfortunate Mourinho brought forward European comparisons because they are incomparable. United could be further back than Real are by the end of Wednesday night. The Premier League is the weakest it’s been for years and United should be beating teams week in, week out with no problem.
No 3 – Winning the Premier League
‘When you speak about responsibilities to win the Premier League, Tottenham does not have that responsibility because they are not a club with the same history as us. Arsenal doesn’t have the responsibility to win it, Chelsea doesn’t have the responsibility to win it.’
Chelsea have won two of the last three Premier League titles. The 2015 triumph under Jose Mourinho no less. Manchester United last won the Premier League in 2013. Chelsea supporters, and their trigger-happy owner, feel the club have a responsibility to try to win it.
Fans believe United have a responsibility to play wide, expansive football and at the moment they are not able to enjoy that. It had looked like it was on the way back last season but Mourinho has reverted to type. And if you don’t believe that, just look at Marcos Rojo lumping balls forward against Manchester City and… Burnley.
Mourinho says Chelsea – his old club – do not have as much of a responsibility to win the title
No 4 – His players
‘The boys are doing what they can and they are doing fine. You say seven points from 15, I say last two matches we had 15 chances to score and we conceded three ‘S’ [s***] goals and an amazing free-kick. They are trying hard with the problems and injuries we have. I am not happy with the result but I am happy with my players.’
United do not have any more injuries than anyone else. Mourinho does not believe in his players, Daley Blind and Matteo Darmian will not be around the place for much longer. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is lucky in that there are not many of his ilk about.
Mourinho does not trust his players, and that goes far further than those he wants to sell. ‘The boys do what they can’ is testament to that. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are not guaranteed starters. Juan Mata is in and out. The back two is not settled. United do not have a core.
PS – The issue he didn’t raise… set pieces?
An absolute shambles. United do not own a single leader.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (centre) is lucky that there aren’t many players of his ilk in United’s squad