Friday 3 February 2017 19:00, UK
Jose Mourinho has warned his Manchester United players they need to start scoring more goals, as he urged them to ease the burden on Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
United's hopes of securing a lucrative top-four finish took a blow on Wednesday after they drew 0-0 with Hull City at Old Trafford.
The result means United have now drawn more Premier League home games this season (6) than they have won (5) and they have managed just 17 goals in their 12 matches at Old Trafford.
United have been significantly outscored by all of their top-six rivals and Mourinho admits he is frustrated by his side's inability to convert territory and possession into goals.
"I have to agree with you that we don't score enough goals," said Mourinho. "Some of our players from these attacking creative positions they could - they should - score more goals.
"I understand what you are saying. We attack so much and with so many players, and so many players have the freedom in our dynamic to reach scoring positions.
"When you see the number of goals we score, there is not a true relation between our attacking production and the number of payers we put in attacking positions and the number of goals we score."
Ibrahimovic, at 35 years old, is comfortably United's top scorer with 19 goals, 14 of which have come in the league.
However, he has not had much help from his team-mates with Juan Mata and Paul Pogba next on the list with seven goals apiece, with each scoring just four times times in the league.
Mourinho said: "When you speak about Zlatan's goals you should always add 14 goals and one penalty in 31 matches played in England in all competitions. You should always add that extra item.
"In almost every team the striker is the top scorer, I think so, unless you have another player with a special feeling to score goals coming from another position or you have another player scoring six seven or eight goals from penalties that is normal to happen."
Wednesday's stalemate with Hull - United's third in a row in the Premier League and ninth of the season - was made all the more frustrating by the fact Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea all dropped points on Tuesday.
It means sixth-placed United still have plenty of ground to make up on their rivals as they travel to struggling champions Leicester on Sunday desperate for a win.
"We are in the same position we were before that game," Mourinho said. "We didn't get the three points we wanted, so it's simple.
"It was a bad result for us but it's exactly the same position which is try to win the next game. That's what we do for a long time
"Every draw we deserved a victory. We never had a draw where we could say we were lucky, we got more than we deserved. Always less than what we deserved. But the reality is the reality of the points and we lost the points."
Grab a NOW TV Sky Sports Day Pass and watch the top of the table clash, Chelsea v Arsenal, for just £6.99. No contract.
