José Mourinho has declared that, although he cannot meet every Manchester United fan across the globe, he will do everything in his power to bring them success to celebrate.
Mourinho's pledge came ahead of Sunday's crunch Premier League clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in which the Reds will look to notch a fourth consecutive win after victories over Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur and Benfica.
In a pre-match press conference held at the Aon Training Complex, the boss explained he cannot talk to every single fan to explain why he needs their support, according to Manchester United's official website.
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The United boss then hit out at fans for what he perceived as a lack of support for striker Romelu Lukaku during his current goalless run.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) invited Mourinho to talk to fans' representatives about his concerns, but the Portuguese has refused, according to Sky Sports.
"I cannot meet how many millions [of United fans]," he told reporters. "I think a quarter of the planet is Manchester United Red, I cannot meet a quarter of the planet."
"The only thing I can do is what I've done since day one – fight for the club, give everything I have, to get as much support as I can for my players – because we are fighting hard and working hard. That's the only thing that I can do and that's the only thing we can promise."
Mourinho went on to discuss how United's early-season form – featuring some of the most free-flowing, entertaining football in the league – has quickly been forgotten by the press, as well as revealing his belief that injuries have played their part.
"I think it's my fault because I should cry every week about our injuries and remind everyone day after day, press conference after press conference, of our injury situation," he said.
"Any other manager would be talking about Paul Pogba every day – but I don't, only when you ask me about his situation," he added. "But also, it's not just Pogba, it's [Marouane] Fellaini, it's [Michael] Carrick, it's [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, it's Marcos Rojo – it's a big group of players [that we are missing].
Criticism of United's playing style in recent Premier League games against Liverpool and Tottenham has irked Mourinho, who wrote in his programme notes ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Benfica: "I hope that you enjoy the game more than some of you did against Tottenham."
"I think we are doing very well, and really, I think that [journalists] and specialists know the kind of football we were playing at the beginning of the season and now you pretend we never played amazing football, we never scored amazing goals, but I know you remember that."
"Of course, we miss our players, but we've played big matches without them, and we're going to play one more without them again."
