England and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford claimed that Mourinho had taught him and his fellow strikers how to be “more savvy” in the penalty area, in fact hinting that it was their former United boss who had taught them to dive to get penalty kicks.<\/p>\n
Jose Mourinho has responded, surprisingly with a calm demeanor, by urging those who believe his teams win more penalties than others to “look at the stats”.<\/p>\n
This has arisen after Marcus Rashford recently responded to a question about why United are perceived to be awarded more penalties than other teams, with Liverpool\u2019s Jurgen Klopp having publicly referenced this stat.<\/p>\n
The United striker issued a surprising answer with a nod at his old boss Mourinho, saying:<\/p>\n
“I remember when Jose was manager, there were five or six times I can remember where I should have had a penalty.<\/p>\n
“Jose ended up saying to me: \u2018If you are not savvy about the way you do it, then you are not going to [get] give[n] it.\u2019<\/p>\n
“After that, we started to get a few penalties. It was something that in terms of development you have to learn that and understand it.”<\/p>\n
When asked about Rashford’s comments before of his Tottenham side’s game against Sheffield United, Mourinho although refusing to answer in detail, instead advised those who believe his teams have received favorable treatment from referees to do some research.<\/p>\n
“Liverpool vs Manchester United is a big match,” Mourinho said ahead of Sunday’s clash between the top two teams in the table.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t need me to make it bigger and doesn’t need me to give it any headlines before such a big match that means so much to both clubs.<\/p>\n
“So I will leave comments maybe for later. But if you feel the need to write something about it do it in a very simple way.<\/p>\n
“Go to Opta, go to the stats. Go to my history as a manager in my ten Premier League seasons. Compare the numbers and make your own conclusions.”<\/p>\n
United have actually only won the second-highest number of penalties in the Premier League so far this season.<\/p>\n
Their six is still some way behind Leicester City, who have been awarded ten spot-kicks in their 17 games so far.<\/p>\n
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