Jose Mourinho has hit out at those choosing to use “stats” to analyse Manchester United’s performance in their 3-1 defeat at rivals Manchester City on Sunday.
United’s defeat means they are as far away from City on points as they are to Cardiff City, who are in the relegation zone.
The 3-1 loss also saw United’s Premier League goal difference go negative, while Anthony Martial’s goal from the penalty spot was their only shot on target at the Etihad.
But when these facts were put to Mourinho after the match, he said: “I think we are not going to be relegated.
“So, when I analyse the game today, I think the difference was, you can go for stats. That’s the way people that don’t understand football analyse football, is with stats.
“I don’t go for stats, I go for what I felt and I watch in the game and the game was there until minute 80-something.
“So, I consider the performance of my team a performance with mistakes. It’s different than a bad performance. One thing is a bad performance another thing is a performance with mistakes.
“We made mistakes, we were punished by these mistakes, but the performance, the mentality, the togetherness, the belief, the fight until the end was something that we are building and we are not going to lose that because of a defeat.”