José Mourinho admits Manchester United are ‘far’ away from playing how he wants them to

If only he'd had two years to coach the players

José Mourinho has confirmed what every football fan has been thinking for the past two years: that Manchester United are a far cry from the level they should be at. He also likened building his team to furnishing a house, in a bizarre metaphor that somewhat explains why he has spent his time at United living in a hotel. Since taking over from Louis van Gaal in 2016, Mourinho has spent close to £400m on new players, including Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matić and Eric Bailly. But his spending has not led to results on the pitch, as United trail eight points behind the pack ahead of this weekend's games. Asked how far away his team are from playing how he wants them to play, Mourinho bluntly said: “Far. “It is not just about spending money and reinforcing the squad, a football team is more than that, a football team is not just about spending the money,” he explained. “A football team is a little bit like a house too, a house is not just about buying new furniture. You have to do work in the house and when the house is ready, then you buy furniture. “You spend money on the best possible furniture and then you’re ready to live in an amazing house.” United travel to Anfield this Sunday for a crunch tie against their arch rivals Liverpool. The home side will be without Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold but will still be fancied as favourites with James Milner set to step in at right-back.