Mourinho: No top 4 is not failure

Jose Mourinho insists that failing to finish in the top four of the Premier League would not constitute failure - despite stating different last summer.

The Portuguese was responding to a question about whether it is essential for Manchester United to qualify for next season's Champions League and if finishing outside the top four positions would mean he had failed.

The former Chelsea boss declared last summer when he took over at the Old Trafford helm that just finishing in the top four was not good enough for the club but now with them in sixth and struggling to break into the Champions League spots, Mourinho appears to have changed his mind.

“We cannot win the Premier League, that is very obvious,” he said.

“I don’t know how many points or matches Chelsea have to lose or victories we have to make in a row, but in another three competitions we can win. We have to fight for these competitions.

“Arsenal has to be there [in the top four]. Tottenham has to be, Chelsea has to be, Manchester City has to be, Liverpool has to be.

“Six teams have to be and some are better prepared than others, with more consistent work over the past years. So I don’t think you can even measure it [success or failure] by that [finishing in the top four].

"we don’t have enough [winner in the squad]. And the ones with a history of success where that belongs to their natural habitat, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, who else? Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but not in our club, Antonio Valencia and not much.

“I do not measure success this season on being champions, which we are not going to be.”

Mourinho also admitted he expects another big spending spree this summer.

“There is an empty space there and I have to fill that space with lots of work, with another transfer window in the summer," he continued. "Step by step we have to fill that space.

“This is not Germany. In Germany, Bayern Munich starts winning the league in the summer. They go to Borussia and buy their best player.

“Do you think I can go to Tottenham and bring two Tottenham players to kill Tottenham? I can’t.

“I cannot go to Arsenal and bring the two best Arsenal players. I cannot go to Chelsea and bring two of the players that I love very, very much. That time is over.

“We are improving but the other ones are also improving so it makes it more difficult for the ones who are behind to grow up again."

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