Mourinho hits out at 'sleeping' stars

Jose Mourinho

JOSE Mourinho felt let down by Manchester United's players, accusing them of ignoring his advice and treating the Europa League clash at Fenerbahce like a "summer friendly".

On the back of Saturday's frustrating goalless draw against Burnley and with a touchline ban looming at Swansea this weekend, any hopes the United boss had of a morale-boosting win in Istanbul were swiftly extinguished.

Moussa Sow's outrageous overhead kick after 65 seconds gave Fenerbahce a lead that Jeremain Lens, on loan from Sunderland, extended with a superb second-half free-kick.

Wayne Rooney superbly pulled one back late on - equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy's 38-goal record as United's all-time European top scorer - but a frantic final few minutes was unable to prevent a 2-1 loss.

PUNCHES

Mourinho pulled no punches later, saying: "Our problem started in our global attitude.

"They (Fenerbahce) were playing the Champions League final and we were playing a summer friendly. That is the reality of the way the game started."

This was always going to be a far cry from United's 4-1 win over Fenerbahce at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, but they froze in front of the baying Sukru Saracoglu Stadium crowd.

"What disappointed me more is that I have quite a big experience of playing against Turkish teams," Mourinho, who lost Paul Pogba to injury after 30 minutes, added.

"My experience is that when you play against them in our home, it's easy. It's always 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, it's easy.

"You come to Turkey and it is a different story, so I told them to wait for that, told them not to be focused on the easy game we had at Old Trafford and to be ready for a completely different game.

"We started the game sleeping. I know that we have a problem and especially away from home, I think at this moment we lack that structure there."

The Reds resume their Premier League campaign with a trip to Swansea on Sunday.