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Four players missed training on Monday as Manchester United prepare for their Champions League clash with Valencia.
United, who host the Spanish side on Tuesday, suffered a third defeat in seven Premier League games this season when they were beaten 3-1 at West Ham on Saturday.
But their bid to bounce back at Old Trafford could well be hampered with four of Jose Mourinho 's squad missing the session on Monday morning.
Jose Mourinho's summer of miseryShow all 6 1 /6Jose Mourinho's summer of misery Jose Mourinho's summer of misery Jose Mourinho's summer of misery A difficult few weeks for Manchester United took a turn for the worse on Sunday when they were beaten 3-2 at Brighton in the Premier League. Manager Jose Mourinho has cut a frustrated figure as his team have laboured through pre-season and the opening weeks of the new campaign. Here, we a look at a summer of discontent at Old Trafford.
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Jose Mourinho's summer of misery Window Woes Mourinho had hoped to strengthen his squad significantly during the summer transfer window, but it ended without the arrival of the commanding defender he had wanted. Despite being linked with the likes of Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Jerome Boateng, Diego Godin and Yerry Mina, United added only Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant to the mix. Speculation persists that relations between Mourinho and the club's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward are strained.
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Jose Mourinho's summer of misery World Cup wait The manager was less than impressed after having to start pre-season without some of his biggest names after France, England and Belgium enjoyed extended stays at the World Cup finals and severely depleted his resources. Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini, Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones and Marcus Rashford were all missing, although most answered Mourinho's call to cut short their post-tournament breaks.
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Jose Mourinho's summer of misery Pitch battle If things have been tetchy off the field, they have been little more relaxed on it. United stuttered through pre-season as they lost to Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and were little more than functional in a 2-1 victory over Leicester in their Premier League opener. However, they turned in a dreadful display to go down 3-2 at Brighton on Sunday with the scoreline flattering them somewhat.
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Jose Mourinho's summer of misery Martial War? Anthony Martial found himself in the firing line after leaving the club's US tour to attend the birth of his second child. Mourinho made little secret of his displeasure at the Frenchman's failure to return to the fold as quickly as he had expected, but 22-year-old Martial insisted his family would always come first.
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Jose Mourinho's summer of misery The problem with Pogba Paul Pogba has been something of an enigma since his club record £89million switch from Juventus in August 2016. His form on the pitch has been patchy to say the least, and rumours of a fractious relationship with his manager have refused to go away. Pogba did little to stem the speculation when he replied, "There are things that I cannot say otherwise I will get fined" when asked if he was happy at Old Trafford, but Mourinho, who has made the Frenchman his captain, has repeatedly insisted there is no issue.
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Ashley Young , Jesse Lingard , Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo were all absent at Carrington.
Mourinho later confirmed that all four would miss Tuesday's Group H tie.
Meanwhile, Juan Mata has scaled back his regular blog amid United's current struggles, saying "it isn't really a time for posts."
Former Valencia midfielder Mata wrote on his blog on Monday: "Today, my blog post is shorter than usual.
"In fact, it isn't really a time for posts. I want to thank all of you who support us during these tough times. I understand your frustrations.
"The upcoming game against Valencia is a special one for me, but above all it is another chance to get back to winning ways."
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