Saturday 28 October 2017 15:31, UK
Jose Mourinho says Ander Herrera's comments after Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Huddersfield showed "dignity" and "intelligence", but admits he was surprised to hear them.
Following the game, Herrera said United lost due to the home side showing "more passion" than them in the first half, which in the aftermath of the shock defeat seemed to anger Mourinho.
Mourinho put the defeat down to the "bad attitude" exhibited by his players and said he was unable to explain the midfielder's comments.
Herrera spoke out this week, following United's 2-0 win over Swansea in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, to silence talk of a rift between himself and Mourinho, saying he shares a "fantastic relationship" with his manager.
Mourinho has revealed that, despite conflicting reports, he was "happy" with Herrera's comments, saying it demonstrated his "dignity" and "intelligence" to understand and admit why they had lost the game.
"I was surprised but I was happy about his words because it is not easy for the players to recognise and admit (why they lost).
"So I was happy because it shows dignity, character and intelligence to know the reason why we lost the match.
"So contrary to some imaginary sources that tell you everything we do here, I can promise you that since that match I didn't speak one single second about the match, because (there's) no need."
After tasting defeat for the first time this season, Mourinho warned his players it would not be the last time but assured fans that the players' attitude shown in the game against Huddersfield was an "isolated case".
"To play bad and lose matches I think can happen again, it happens" Mourinho said. "During a season you can't play well all the time, you can't win all the time and you can not even be lucky all of the time.
"So I think we are going to lose again. But in terms of the attitude that we didn't like, because I know the players and how good a people they are, I believe that was an isolated case."
