Manchester Utd: Mourinho's style of play is 'outdated' says fan
United went into Sunday's trip to Brighton having watched Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City pick up three points this weekend.
But they failed to follow their title rivals' lead as goals from Glenn Murray, Shane Duffy and Pascal Gross put them to the sword at the Amex Stadium.
Murray's cute near-post flick, Duffy's finish and Gross' penalty after a rash Eric Bailly challenge all came thanks in part to defensive errors.
And Mourinho was happy to point to those when summing up his Manchester United's disappointing defeat which has seen them lose early ground in the title race.
"We were punished by the mistakes we made," said Mourinho. "For me that's the story of the game. We made incredible mistakes in some crucial moments. Mistakes that killed us.
"Especially that third goal - we expected to come at 2-1 with positivity - then the third goal killed us off in the second half. Our second goal came too late.
"The week leading up was good and I expected the team collectively to be better. There are basic mistakes that makes almost an impossible mission to win the match."
United’s error-strewn showing against Brighton was not limited to problems at the back.
Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho fumes over 'INCREDIBLE MISTAKES' in Brighton defeat (Image: GETTY)
A number of players failed to retain possession consistently.
Mourinho was unwilling to speak specifically about those issues though.
"I don't want to go in that direction," Mourinho added, when asked about United’s passing. "I have to learn from my reality. Last season when I was critical of my team and was debating openly the performances I was criticised for being too open about my players. I will be open when they are doing well.I cannot criticise the desire of my players.
"When we scored the first goal I thought we can win this game then the third goal comes in this incredible way. Then you try to believe the second goal could give us a chance to go for it, but it was too late."
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Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho fumes over 'INCREDIBLE MISTAKES' in Brighton defeat (Image: GETTY)
Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho fumes over 'INCREDIBLE MISTAKES' in Brighton defeat (Image: GETTY)
Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho fumes over 'INCREDIBLE MISTAKES' in Brighton defeat (Image: GETTY)
Mourinho admitted he was not expecting such a performance from United.
"I was not expecting big mistakes," Mourinho said. "We are not speaking about small mistakes.
"We were punished by this. When you lose your confidence then it's the normal tendency to lose that confidence and game plan."
United will be eager to bounce back when they face Tottenham at Old Trafford at the end of the month.