Jose jumps to the defence of United’s makeshift backline
JOSE Mourinho praised Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic’s ‘courage’ for playing in central defence during United’s draw with Southampton.
Injuries sustained by Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly left the Reds with two available centrebacks at St Mary’s – where Phil Jones was supported by auxiliary defenders McTominay and Matic, who have played in defence already this season.
United were 2-0 down within 20 minutes but recovered to level before the interval, before a goalless second half.
Mourinho lauded Jones’ ‘leadership’ in the back three and felt Marcus Rashford – who created Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera’s goals – showed ‘mad dog’ qualities to salvage an incompetent first 45 minutes.
“Overall, I am not happy with the result, but I cannot be a critic,” Mourinho said.
“The spirit was good, the desire was good, if they didn’t do better than what they did it is because they were not able to do it.
“In the Premier League, to play one football match with one central defender is hard.
“I said already you cannot look at Southampton in the table, you have to look to Southampton to the quality, and the quality has nothing to do with the table.
“They are a good team with very good players.
“And to play with one centre-back was a situation of fragility, a total situation of fragility, that we try to compensate with playing with a back three where Scott and Nemanja had, I cannot find another word, so they had the courage to play in that position.
“And Phil Jones was a good leader. It was a good reference point for them to try to help them to have some stability. I think by the mental point of view it’s not easy for the team to go for a Premier League match only with one central defender.
“I would say Marcus Rashford was a mad dog until he was very, very tired and with little problems.
“That appetite, that desire, that fire you have, you need that to recover the ball faster and to recover the ball higher on the pitch.”
Mourinho bristled when it was suggested Lukaku did not perform, despite his first club goal since September 15. Lukaku’s 33rd-minute strike ended a 982-minute drought with United.
“So tell that, write that, don’t ask me,” Mourinho replied when it was suggested Lukaku’s touch was awry.
“I think the goal is always important in a striker, but I have to say that I am super happy with Marcus Rashford’s performance and he did not score. So sometimes goals are not everything.
“But for a player who is not scoring goals for quite a long time, to score a goal – a good goal – I think is always nice, I can imagine he goes with a better feeling from this match than previous matches.”