JOSE’S HAD A TINKER

THE figures didn’t add up for Manchester United in the Premier League last season – and Jose Mourinho’s number might be up if he continues to tinker with his side.

Chelsea used 24 players as they marched to top flight glory last season.

That’s one more than the 23 employed by Claudio Ranieri during Leicester City’s fairytale title charge in 2015/16.

Mourinho, in contrast, used 31 men in the Premier League as his new side spluttered to a disappointing sixth-place finish – a distant 24 points behind Chelsea.

It’s not so much the number of players used that sets the Londoners apart, though.

It’s the stability of the Champions’ starting line-up that served Antonio Conte so well in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

According to statistics compiled by the European Football Observatory (CIES), Chelsea’s 11 most-used players were on the pitch for 85.5 per cent of the league minutes played by the club last season. That’s the highest percentage of any club in Europe’s 27 top division leagues.

Tony Pulis’ West Brom and runners-up Tottenham also feature high on that table, with the Baggies ninth and the North Londoners 11th.

Manchester United, though, are way down that list. The 11 players fielded most by Mourinho (above) during their league season played just 62.8 per cent of the time – a figure which puts them in the bottom 50 of clubs across Europe.

That figure is only marginally higher than the 62.6 per cent recorded by relegated Hull City and the 58.6 per cent of Granada, who Tony Adams managed for a brief period before their relegation from La Liga.

David de Gea was the only Manchester United player to play more than 30 Premier League matches last season.

Chelsea had eight stars who played more than 30 games – Thibaut Courtois, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.