Mourinho worried by Man United's 'very bad' pre-season
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is worried by the absence of key players from the club's pre-season training camp in the United States, saying that the situation was "very bad" ahead of the English Premier League campaign.
United are without several World Cup participants, including France's Paul Pogba, Belgium's Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini, and England's Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford among others, as they rest following a gruelling tournament.
Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez is also absent from the camp due to visa issues.
"The pre-season is very bad, the only positive thing is the young boys who have a fantastic opportunity to train with us," said Mourinho.
"I'm worried because I'm not training (with everyone) and then I start the season without lots of players, but it is what it is and we have to try and make the best out of it with the players we have here.
"I'm not worried about playing Liverpool here or Real or Milan... I'm not worried if we lose badly."
United will play two friendlies, starting with Club America today, ahead of next week's International Champions Cup tournament, where they will face Liverpool, Champions League winners Real Madrid and Italy's AC Milan.
The Old Trafford side also play a friendly against German champions Bayern Munich on Aug 5, five days before they kick off their league campaign against Leicester City.
Mourinho also expressed confidence that the euphoria of lifting the World Cup will provide a boost to Pogba's club career at Manchester United.
Pogba, 25, was the subject of criticism from some quarters for his United performances last season and found himself relegated to the bench at times during the second half of the campaign.
However, he was instrumental in France's triumph in Russia, particularly in the final, when he netted the third goal for Didier Deschamps' side against Croatia.
Although Mourinho now expects to be without Pogba for the start of the EPL season next month, the United boss believes the midfielder will inevitably be in an exuberant mood when he does report back for club duty.
"To win the World Cup can only be a positive thing. It's difficult to say that to win the World Cup is not good for a player's career. It's amazing, fantastic," said Mourinho.
"So many good players have never had the chance to be world champions or their country is not strong enough.
"For Paul, to be a world champion can only be fantastic.
"It's a young team, apart from (Hugo) Lloris, they have more Euros and World Cups together. So the future for him in the French national team can only be brilliant.
"It's important for him to understand why he was so good in the second part of the competition. In the final, he was absolutely brilliant."
Meanwhile, United's new signing, defender Diogo Dalot, will miss the start of the EPL season due to a knee injury.
The 19-year-old suffered the injury while playing for former club FC Porto towards the end of last season. - REUTERS, AFP
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