Jose wants a brainier response

Mourinho miffed by United's lack of mental preparedness

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho accused his players of not showing an appropriate level of mental preparation during their 3-0 Europa League victory over Saint-Etienne on Thursday.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hat-trick earned United a handsome win in the last 32 first-leg match at Old Trafford, but the scoreline did not tell the full story.

Saint-Etienne finished the first half strongly and substitute Nolan Roux spurned a glorious chance to knot the score two minutes before Ibrahimovic netted United's second goal in the 75th minute.

Mourinho said United's first half had been "so bad" and when asked why, he pointed to a "lack of concentration".

"I had the feeling immediately in the dressing room; it was too noisy, too funny, too relaxed," he said.

"Then my assistants had the feeling in the warm-up, with some of the guys not really focused on getting ready.

"The game started and the first thing we did was a back-pass (by Eric Bailly) to the striker to be face-to-face with Sergio (Romero, United's goalkeeper).

"Lack of concentration. When you don't have it, it's difficult to recover it. In the first half, it was hard.

"Even myself on the touchline, it was difficult, the communication. I needed half-time. We were lucky to be winning 1-0. After that, it was a different story."

Mourinho has made no secret of the fact he would rather be playing in the Champions League than its sister competition, but said that was no excuse for United's lack of focus.

"I know the Champions League is the competition everyone wants to play, everyone wants to win," he said.

"But we don't play the Champions League, we play the Europa League. We had the group phase a little bit like this.

"When we needed to win, we did it.

"When the focus is there, we answered. Tonight in the first half, it was too relaxed."

Ibrahimovic, 35, took his tally of goals against Saint-Etienne to 17 in 14 games, but the 17th hat-trick of his career was also one of his scruffiest.

Deflection

The Swede opened the scoring with a 15th-minute free-kick that was awarded for a seemingly non-existent foul on him by Jordan Veretout, and his shot trickled past Stephane Ruffier via a deflection off Vincent Pajot.

Ibrahimovic's second goal was a tap-in created by substitute Marcus Rashford and his third, with two minutes to play, came from the spot after he crumpled following a challenge by Kevin Theophile-Catherine.

Ibrahimovic has scored more goals against Saint-Etienne than any other club. Despite United's healthy advantage, he hopes to add to that success in Wednesday's return leg.

"Every time I've played against Saint-Etienne, with hard work there has been a couple of goals," said the former Paris Saint-Germain striker.

"I scored a couple of goals again tonight and hopefully I can do the same thing next week."

Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was unable to disguise his disappointment with Czech referee Pavel Kralovec.

"The scoreline is very harsh," he said.

"I'm disappointed by the appreciation of the game and the errors by the officials, in particular the first free kick and the penalty.

"So I'm angry and disappointed for all of my players.

" They put so much into this game and they deserved to have more to play for in the second leg."

Agent defends 'scapegoat' Ozil

German playmaker Mesut Ozil is not happy at being singled out for criticism in the wake of Arsenal's 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in Wednesday's Champions League last 16 first leg, his agent told the BBC on Thursday.

Erkut Sogut said the 28-year-old Ozil - who like fellow star Alexis Sanchez is yet to commit himself to a new contract with the Gunners in what has become a long-running saga - is annoyed "at regularly being the scapegoat" for the failings of the team whose only realistic chance of a trophy this season lies in the FA Cup.

The Gunners trail Premier League leaders Chelsea by 10 points.

Sogut said Ozil - who cost Arsenal $52.4 million when he signed from Real Madrid in 2013 - could not be blamed for his performance on Wednesday when Bayern Munich enjoyed 74 percent possession.

"Criticism is normal if a player plays badly," said Sogut, who is also Ozil's lawyer.

"But Mesut feels people are not focusing on his performance; they are using him as a scapegoat for the team after bad results.

"How can someone in the No 10 position create chances if he doesn't have the ball?

"In these games people usually target a player who cost a lot of money and earns a lot of money - that is Mesut. But he can't always be the scapegoat. That's just not fair."

Ozil, who has scored 29 times for Arsenal and last season created more chances (137) than any other player in Premier League history, does not freeze in big matches as many have claimed, said Sogut.

"I don't agree that Mesut has not had an impact on big matches," said the agent.

"What about the win at home to Chelsea this season and Manchester United the year before? What about the games for Germany against Italy and France at Euro 2016?

"People are always saying Mesut is not fighting or tackling, that he has poor body language, but that is how he is.

"Believe me, he is desperate to succeed. If it doesn't work, he shows his anger and expressions.

"Was his body language an issue when Arsenal was playing well?"

Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ander Herrera celebrate the opening goal in Thursday's 3-0 Europa League victory over Saint-Etienne. Jason Cairnduff / Reuters