Jose Mourinho said Manchester United's vulnerable displays during tough situations in the 2016/17 Premier League season have not surprised him.
United suffered their second straight league defeat on Sunday at Watford to drop to seventh place in the table with nine points from five games. The first setback for The Red Devils, who kicked off their 2016/17 season with a Community Shield win over Leicester City and three consecutive Premier League victories, came at Old Trafford when they lost the derby clash to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
Mourinho's men also had a bad start to their 2016/17 Europa League campaign losing 1-0 to Dutch side Feyenoord despite travelling with a strong squad.
On Sunday, Walter Mazzarri's side kept putting pressure on United's backline from the word go. After conceding a one-goal lead at the break, Marcus Rashford got the visitors back into the game with an equaliser in the 62nd minute. However, Watford clinched the game with two second half goals.
The Portuguese tactician said some of his players have not been to battle pressure in the ongoing season. Notably, Mourinho had not lost three consecutive matches in a single campaign since his 2001/02 season with Porto.
"We started the season very well with [winning] the Community Shield and three victories in a row in the Premier League, the best start that a new manager has had at Manchester United I think. But was I thinking that my team was ready, perfect, unbeatable? Not at all," Mourinho told BT Sport, as quoted by ESPN.
"I was completely aware that we were not perfect, with lots of players who are not end products and can make their own mistakes.
"I feel that some individuals probably feel the pressure and responsibility too much."
Despite losing by a two-goal margin, Mourinho maintained his side played better in the second half and that luck was not going their way. He was also upset with the referee's decision to not penalise Miguel Britos' when the Watford defender made a tough challenge against Anthony Martial before Etienne Capoue scored the opening goal for the hosts.
"There is no debate, no controversy. It's an obvious situation, like last week against Manchester City, but it's something I cannot control or be critical with," Mourinho added.
"The second half was much better. We got the draw then, after that, we were the team [who looked likelier to win]. [Heurelho] Gomes made a phenomenal save [from a Zlatan Ibrahimovic header]. Luck is not something we can control. What we can control are individual and collective mistakes."
