Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho admits title is lost
And he has warned his stars they had better buck up their ideas or they could miss out on the top four.
United’s defeat to Tottenham in midweek has left them 15 points behind neighbours Manchester City with 13 games left and Mourinho no longer looking ahead but over his shoulder because the chase for Champions League qualifying places is intensifying.
“City are doing so, so well that they are not letting the others come close to them,” he said. “With the number of points we have and the improvement we have made in relation to last season, the distance would normally be a distance that leaves the fight for the title open.
“The fight is open only for second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, but it is practically closed for the first. We are fighting to be best of the rest.”
It is the earliest any United manager in the Premier League era has conceded they are out of the race, but Mourinho has urged his players to use the rest of the campaign to build a platform for a more serious challenge to City next season by finishing strongly in second place and lifting either the FA Cup or Champions League.
“I always remember when Sir Alex [Ferguson] said in 2005-06, when we won the second title with Chelsea, that United needed to improve because Chelsea had raised the bar to such a level,” said Mourinho. “That was the ‘click’ for the improvement because in 2006-07 United won the title back. It has to be like that again.