Jose Mourinho acknowledges Manchester United are some way short of being the best team in the Premier League.The 20-time English champions have endured mixed fortunes as Mourinhos first season at the helm comes to an end.A 3-2 win over Southampton at Wembley secured the EFL Cup and United are in the midst of a Europa League quarter-final tie against Anderlecht.Winning the latter competition may represent their most plausible route back to the Champions League as they lie fifth in the Premier League18 points shy of Antonio Contes table toppers and with a tough run-in to come.Asked how far away United were from the best in the country during an interview on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday programme, Mourinho left no doubt there is ample ground for United to gain, while once again implying Conte is the beneficiary of double standards when it comes to media criticism.Far because the best team, in the Premier League, is the team with more points, he said.I know you like to criticise me. When I was winning titles with Chelsea you were criticising the style of play. At the moment you dont do it.Now to be the best counter-attacking team in the country is not to be criticised; it is an amazing thing.The best team at the end of the season is the one who is champions and we are far from it.This season Chelsea are a much better team than us.For some others it is more difficulttheir nature, their ages, their DNA. It is not so easy.We have important injuries and we do not have so many players to rotate. In some positions we have no choice.Of course [Chelsea] are much better prepared for the game than us.We dont train. We recover from matches. We try to give the players the best conditions to recover but, honestly, on the pitch there are no conditions to work.We analyse matches, we analyse opponents but to work on the pitch, with dynamism and intensity, at this moment is impossible.A third defeat at the hands of Chelsea across all competitions this season would underline the gap between the two, but Mourinho feels it is open to interpretation whether his first year in the Old Trafford dugout has been a success.
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