Mourinho explains delayed in Man Utd, Valencia kick-off

Jose Mourinho insists his Manchester United side could not use their lack of preparation time against Valencia as an excuse for their abject display.

Mourinho remains a man under severe pressure after the goalless stalemate with the Spaniards in the Champions League with the players leaving the Old Trafford pitch to a chorus of boos at full-time.

United desperately need to get back to winning ways against Newcastle this Saturday, when Mourinho will be hoping the journey to the stadium is at a little easier than on Tuesday.

“We left the hotel at six o’clock hoping that 30 minutes would be enough, which normally it is,” he said after kick-off was delayed by five minutes due to their late arrival.

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“But this time the police refused to do an escort, so we come by ourselves and we took from the Lowry hotel 75 minutes.

“UEFA were nice, the referee was nice to allow us to start the game five minutes later because at least we need half an hour to be prepared.

“But it was not a problem with the club organisation, we tried everything, we anticipate everything the fact that it could be dangerous – dangerous in the sense of arriving late – but we were informed the police refused an escort.”

The United boss, however, was even more reserved after being labelled an embarrassment by club great Paul Scholes.