Jose Mourinho accuses his players of being heartless as United’s chances of top-four finish fade away after Palace draw

JOSE MOURINHO accused his stars of being heartless after Manchester United flopped at Old Trafford again.

A goalless draw against struggling Crystal Palace saw the United chief question the desire of his players as they fell 14 points behind leaders Man City.

And Mourinho’s aim of a top-four position by the end of December suddenly looks out of reach after another missed opportunity.

United’s boss said: “It was the first of eight Premier League games until the end of December, it was a game we need to win and my feeling is that it was not from the heart.

“We must play with brains and also with heart, and [there was] not enough heart [today].

“There was not enough intensity, not enough desire so I think we played the game like one more game.

“I don’t think [this was] one more game, it’s a game we really need to win.

“There are matches that are special matches that are not just one more, and this was not just one more.

“There are people who will have a bad dinner [tonight], there is people will enjoy a nice dinner and there will be people who will maybe even party.”

United remain seven points off the top four with as many games remaining of 2017.

Mourinho’s team face Arsenal at home and Liverpool away over the next month as the Red Devils aim to make up for these dropped points.

Asked about a solution to the problems, Mourinho admitted he cannot cull the amount of players that he believes lack the necessary desire.

The Portuguese said: “You cannot change players’ nature dramatically.

“The solution is probably I have to make certain choices based on heart and then probably I will blame myself because I will think heart is not enough and I am missing some quality.

“Palace deserve some credit but I think we have to blame ourselves.”