Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said that his team is building something special after their failed attempt to bring Marcus Rashford to the club, Softfootball gathers.
Mourinho, who now manages Turkish outfit Fenerbahçe, made the statement via the club website after their 4-0 victory over Al-Ittihad to mark their third preseason fixture in Portugal.
Speaking to the club’s official broadcaster, the Portuguese coach praised the growing cohesion within his squad, highlighting the performance as another step in what he described as “building something special” this season.
Mourinho explained it as this:
“The result wasn’t the most important thing.
“But of course, when you win like this, it brings confidence not just in each other, but in the work we’ve been doing. We made a few mistakes; there are still areas to improve, but the overall performance was good.”
Mourinho rotated heavily in the second half to distribute minutes, keeping one eye on player fitness and another on maintaining team harmony. The former Roma and Real Madrid boss admitted that the internal atmosphere was as crucial as the results.
Despite the failed attempt to reunite with Marcus Rashford, who went to Barcelona on loan, as earlier reported by Softfootball, Mourinho reiterated that his present squad are jelling well as the new season approaches. He said:
“We’ve got a great group of really great people.
“There’s unity and understanding in this team, and I’m very happy with that.”
The Fenerbahçe boss also addressed the physical demands of his high-pressing setup and how it might affect his approach across the season.
He noted that:
“When you play this type of football, it burns a lot of energy. To do it consistently, you need players with specific profiles.
“We lost six important players from last season and have brought in two new ones. Devin Özek has impressed me, Brown has strong potential, and Jhon is a real striker.”
Still, Mourinho stressed caution and said that:
“This isn’t PlayStation. You can’t just swap players in and out without consequences. We’re trying to add without breaking what we’ve built. It’s delicate, human, even. And we must protect it.”
The game was their third consecutive victory in the preseason as they play against Benfica next Saturday.
