Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho admits the club’s season will be seen as failure if they do not beat Ajax in the Europa League final on May 24.
Mourinho also admitted that he has worked “harder than ever” during his maiden United campaign, which has already featured a League Cup triumph and victory over Leicester City in the Community Shield.
With Manchester United needing to beat Ajax to secure a place in next season’s Champions League, the Portuguese knows he will be criticized by the media if his side succumb to defeat at Stockholm’s Friends Arena.
“I think you, the media, have the right to say [that] and I think it makes sense to say,” he told reporters after United completed a 2-1 aggregate win over Celta Vigo in the semi-finals on Thursday.
“But I don’t feel like that. I don’t want the players to feel like that.
“I don’t think the board feels like that. Because we work very hard. I probably worked this season harder than ever.
“In my personal analysis, I don’t think that way. But if I was on your side, in your chair, I think it is [fair].
“We won a League Cup. We won the Community Shield.
“Until the injuries arrived, we fought for the Premier League top four. We had a fantastic record of 25 matches [unbeaten].
“We did things that nobody did in this club in the first season, like winning a trophy, like having the Manchester United record in the Premier League for unbeaten games, like reaching a European final. We had good things.
“But if I was on your side and you are always looking for this kind of capital-letters big headlines, I accept if you say that.”