(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Jose Mourinho admits Manchester United's lack of confidence has contributed to their dismal three-match losing streak.
Mourinho's side slumped to an embarrassing 3-1 defeat at Watford on Sunday to cap a miserable week that also included losses against Manchester City and Feyenoord. After winning the first three games of the Mourinho era, United are stuck in a rut and looked painfully short of inspiration in their first defeat against Watford for 30 years. It was a tepid display that recalled the worst moments of Louis van Gaal's reign and Mourinho believes his players are suffering from a lack of belief that takes an extra toll whenever an important moment goes against them. "We started the season very well and had good results. I feel the first moment we had a defeat, a difficult situation, some of the boys are having a bit of difficulty coping with the negativity," Mourinho said. "You see Ashley Young, his mentality the happiness and confidence he brought to the game is something more players need to have." It is the first time a Mourinho team has lost three in a row since he was in charge at Porto in 2002. But Mourinho isn't about to panic because he believes United's woes are only partially self-inflicted and he expects a revival once their luck changes. "I reflect on three factors from the match, but only one of them I can improve," he said. "The first factor depends on ourselves, it relates to our individual mistakes and collective mistakes as individual players and as a team. We have to improve something, it is in our hands. "The second factor is the referee and I can't control their mistakes. The story of the game is the result and not the ridiculous situation of the first goal. "The third factor is luck, we didn't have it. We were the best team when we lost. Heurelho Gomes made a phenomenal save from a Zlatan Ibrahimovic header." Meanwhile, Paul Scholes criticised United's "sloppy" display after their 3-1 loss away to Watford. "The quality on the ball was as poor as you've seen from a Man United team, and that's just the way it is at the minute," Scholes said. "You're not sure what you're going to get. "Rashford is probably the only shining light really and he didn't have his best game today, but he looked a threat. I just think in possession Man United were really, really poor. "Individually it wasn't good enough. In possession it wasn't good enough. So sloppy, giving the ball away all the time." Scholes, who retired from football for a second time in 2013, spent his entire career at United, mostly in central midfield. But it is in this area of the field that Scholes believes United have their greatest problems, saying his former team-mate Michael Carrick, an unused substitute against Watford, ought to start. Scholes also suggested Marouane Fellaini was not the right player to sit alongside Paul Pogba in midfield. "I thought Fellaini was all right, he does a job which stops the other team. But I think if you're Manchester United you need more than that," Scholes told BT Sport. "I think you need someone who can stop the play - but he needs to be capable of controlling the game of football as well, playing forward, passing forward. "As well as he (Fellaini) has done in the first three or four games, I just can't understand why Michael Carrick's here." He added: "It looked last year like he was leaving, he's not been involved a minute of the season, so what he's done I don't know. "Obviously (Bastian) Schweinsteiger - he (Mourinho) is not keen on him. They need to get a playmaker in there. You're coming to Watford, you're not going to Arsenal." Scholes was concerned by how often Watford opened up United's defence, adding: "I expected them to be a lot tighter defensively, especially with bringing Chris Smalling in, but they were all over the place and every time a ball came into the box you felt Watford were going to score. "Something's not right there. The cohesion of the team isn't there. He (Mourinho) needs to find the right mix of players." Share
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