STAT ATTACK ON PUNDITS
FROM BACK PAGE went on the attack, reeling off stats on Rashford from a sheet, to try to disprove what he feels is unfair flak over the striker. He said last night: “Speaking about Marcus, I think I can expect that Sunday I’m going to be highly criticised for not playing him tomorrow, because some of the boys are really obsessed with me and some of them have a problem with some compulsive lies. Some wake up in the morning and the first thing they think about is Jose Mourinho. So probably you should remind them he’s suspended and can’t play.” Detailing games played by Rashford and his time on the pitch, Mourinho concluded: “With me, in two seasons, he had 105 appearances, 5,744 minutes, 63.8 matches of 90 minutes, including five finals, so the people speaking about these minutes, I think they’re a bit confused.” Mourinho admits he is “in the dark” about Paul Pogba’s future. “If he doesn’t tell me he wants to leave, it’s because he wants to stay,” he said. “That’s my conclusion, no?”