Jose Mourinho reveals why he didn’t make any subs against Juventus as he rues Marouane Fellaini absence

The United manager rued injuries to Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and Fellaini that left him with just untested teenager Tahith Chong as an attacking threat on the substitutes’ bench

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Wednesday 24 October 2018 10:34 BST
Comments
Mourinho underlines gulf in class after United's loss to Juventus

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jose Mourinho has claimed that a lack of attacking options on the bench prevented him from making a substitution in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat by Juventus.

United neglected to bring any player off the bench on Tuesday night, despite trailing to their visitors for the majority of the evening, following Paulo Dybala’s 17th-minute strike.

Mourinho named 18-year-old Tahith Chong among his substitutes for the first time but believed it was too soon to hand United’s most recent young player of the year his debut.

The United manager also lamented the absences of Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and Marouane Fellaini, who were ruled out of the Group H clash through injury.

When asked why he had not made a substitution, Mourinho said: “Bear in mind Sanchez was in the stand. Lingard was in the stand. Fellaini may have been in the stand or at home as I didn’t see him.

”The only really attacking option was a young 18-year-old lad [Chong] who has never played in the first team before. Given the dynamic of the game, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring him on.

“You can’t expect a kid making his debut in a game like this to give you something like scoring a goal. So that’s why I didn’t make any changes on the pitch.”

Mourinho bemoaned having 18-year-old Tahith Chong as his only attacking option
Mourinho bemoaned having 18-year-old Tahith Chong as his only attacking option (PA)

Mourinho has often relied on Fellaini to change the dynamic of a game and regularly brings the midfielder on to provide a more physical, unpredictable presence.

“I really missed Fellaini because when we are dominant, we are playing in the opponents’ half and the opponent closes the way they did, and they brought [Andrea] Barzagli as a third centre-back, Fellaini is a player that gives us different things,” Mourinho said.

“We missed him, but the boys gave everything and when the boys give everything and go until the last second I am always happy with them.”

Mourinho felt not having Fellaini hurt United's ability to change the game
Mourinho felt not having Fellaini hurt United's ability to change the game (Getty)

Alongside Chong, Mourinho elected not to introduce midfielders Andreas Pereira, Fred or Ander Herrera, while Eric Bailly and Matteo Darmian were also left out of the match along with reserve goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in