Injury news from Jose: United v Chelsea

Jose Mourinho has confirmed Ander Herrera is definitely unavailable for Manchester United’s highly anticipated Premier League match against rivals Chelsea on Sunday.
The Spain international picked up an injury in the early stages of the first half during Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Sevilla’s Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
The severity of Herrera’s problem is yet to be determined and, as such, the manager does not know long the central midfielder will be sidelined, but he will not feature at Old Trafford this weekend. 
"Ander is out," Mourinho said in his press conference. "I don't know the final diagnosis but I know he'll be out for a few weeks. I don't know how many is a few - two, three, four, five, six weeks - I don't know, but a few weeks, for sure. Coming back from injury - nobody else." No other players will return from injury against Chelsea, according to Jose, which means Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are both still unfit for action, as well as Marouane Fellaini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

THE LATEST ON PAUL POGBA
The France international was named on the bench against Sevilla, before he replaced the injured Herrera after just 14 minutes. Mourinho was asked about the player during the press conference on Friday.
"I think he responded in a very professional way, both times he was on the bench," Jose told reporters at the Aon Training Complex. "He was on the bench against Huddersfield in the Premier League and he responded in a professional way. He was on the bench in Seville and he did the same." On the same subject, the boss also said: "You saw the game against Sevilla - I think it's always more difficult to come from the bench than to start. A player when he's starting the game has a different kind of preparation for it and to come on even without warming up, in minute 15, or minute 20, and to get into the pace of the game is not easy.
"I think he had a very positive game for us and sometimes, details are details, but sometimes players on the bench take five minutes to be ready to play. They don't have shinpads, they don't have the strapping, they don't have a shirt. He took 10 seconds to be ready to come to the pitch, which showed the professionalism that he was ready to play and help the team, which he did."

Jose Mourinho still figuring out Alexis Sanchez's role at Man United, says Nigel Winterburn

Jose Mourinho still has not figured out how best to use Alexis Sanchez at Manchester United, believes former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn.

The Chile forward has scored once and added two assists in six starts for United since arriving in January as part of a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move in the opposite direction.
United have not scored in three of those games, losing at Tottenham and Newcastle before drawing 0-0 against Sevilla on Thursday, with Mourinho deploying Sanchez primarily on the left of United's attack.

Anthony Martial had previously staked his claim for that role but he has not scored since netting the winner in a 1-0 victory away at Burnley in the game prior to Sanchez's arrival, as he has struggled to adapt to playing on the right.
Winterburn believes Sanchez would be best utilised at United in a central attacking role where he can offer more support to Romelu Lukaku.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was not impressed when asked if Alexis Sanchez appreciates tactical instructions

"He will make his mark eventually at Manchester United that is for sure," Winterburn told Premier League Daily.
"I actually believe personally that this season Sanchez has not been at the same high level that he was at last season. He has just had a slight [dip] in form.
"He has now moved to a new club. How will Manchester United use Sanchez best within the dynamics of their set-up?


"I just wonder eventually whether Sanchez will come in and play off the central striker in Lukaku. I could see that working very, very well for them.
"Then you can use Martial or Rashford down one of your wings as well. I think that might start to excite some of the Manchester United supporters. It is a way of getting another creative player into your team.
"He is going to be a huge success but it is going to take him a little bit of time to settle in to the different styles of Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho."

Paul Pogba's professionalism praised by Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has praised Paul Pogba's professionalism after being dropped for Manchester United's Champions League game against Sevilla on Wednesday.

The French midfielder was a surprise omission from Jose Mourinho's starting line-up for the 0-0 draw, though he did come on as a substitute in the 17th minute to replace the injured Ander Herrera.
That came after Pogba was taken off with United trailing in recent defeats to Tottenham and Newcastle, while he was a late withdrawal through illness against Huddersfield in the FA Cup last weekend.

Tensions have appeared to be mounting between Mourinho and the club's record signing in recent weeks but the United boss offered an olive branch when asked by the media if Pogba is in the right frame of mind to start against Chelsea on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

"You saw the game against Sevilla," Mourinho said. "It is always more difficult to come from the bench than to start.
"A player when he is starting the game has a different kind of preparation for it and it is easier. To be on the bench and to come on without warming up and get into the pace is not easy. I think he had a very positive game for us.

"And details are details. Sometimes players on the bench take five minutes to be ready to play. They don't have the shinpads or the strapping or the shirt or this or that. He took ten seconds to be ready to come to the pitch.
"He showed his professionalism and that despite being on the bench he was ready to play and to help the team. And he did.
"I think he responded in a very professional way, both times he was on the bench. He was on the bench against Huddersfield in the Premier League and he responded in a professional way. And he was on the bench against Sevilla and he did the same."

Mourinho was also asked Romelu Lukaku's poor scoring record against the top eight sides in the Premier League this season. So far, the Belgian has failed to score in 10 games against Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Burnley and Leicester.
In six games against teams in the top six this season, Lukaku has failed to register a shot on target but Mourinho insists he is not concerned about his star striker's record in big games.
When asked why Lukaku has been unable to score for United against any teams in the top eight, Mourinho replied: "I don't know but I am not worried - 21 goals is not bad at all.
"I don't measure the players' performances the same way you do. I have other points of analysis and I am happy with Romelu's performances, even when he doesn't score goals."

Manchester United well equipped to win Champions League, says Ashley Young

 

Ashley Young says United are capable of winning the Champions League 

 

Manchester United's solid defence and attacking options make Ashley Young believe Champions League glory is realistic this season.

For the first time since 2013-14, the three-time European champions are back in the knockout phase of the continent's top competition.

 Wednesday sees Jose Mourinho's side take on Sevilla in the first leg of the last-16 clash, yet there is already half an eye on the Kiev finale this May.

Having lifted the Europa League last year, Young sees no reason why United cannot challenge for the Champions League this time.
"Of course (we can win the Champions League)," he said.

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has dismissed speculation his relationship with Paul Pogba has broken down, saying the reports are 'lies'.

"You don't enter a competition not to win it. That's what we will be looking to do and take each game as it comes.
"The next one is against Sevilla. That's a tough away game like Huddersfield, like Newcastle away. That's what the stadium is like. We just have to concentrate on ourselves."
Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round victory at Huddersfield was a welcome boost for United following the surprise Premier League defeat at Newcastle the previous week.

Jonjo Shelvey and Juan Mata clash in Newcastle's surprise win at St James' Park

Young, who played at right-back on Saturday, felt United's latest clean sheet was particularly sweet after the defence came in for criticism after the 1-0 loss at St James' Park.
"I think a lot has been said about defenders and what not - a lot was said last week - and it's one of those things. Everyone's entitled to their opinion," Young said.
"Keep getting clean sheets and hopefully we can chip in with goals as well as the front boys."


Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the win against Huddersfield and Young believes the Belgian's partnership with January signing Alexis Sanchez will blossom.
"You can see the combinations between them," he said.
"Alexis comes inside, and Rom's seen him and picked him up as well and they're picking each other out and they have worked well together so far."

Early United team news for Sevilla clash

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed he is dealing with a number of injury issues ahead of the Champions League tie at Sevilla.
The manager made changes to his squad for the Emirates FA Cup win at Huddersfield Town on Saturday but says it was not down to resting players.
"I didn’t rest anyone other than [David] De Gea," he stressed. "Can we recover some of them for Wednesday? I think [Marcus] Rashford, [Ander] Herrera, [Antonio] Valencia have a chance.
"Paul Pogba? I don’t know. [Marcos] Rojo, [Phil] Jones, [Marouane] Fellaini, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], I don’t think they have any chance."
The news that Rojo and Jones are injured means Eric Bailly's return to fitness – he came on as a substitute in the dying embers of the clash at the John Smith's Stadium at the weekend – has been a timely one.
Rashford and Herrera have missed the last couple of games but Valencia featured in the last Premier League outing, at Newcastle United.
Jose is likely to provide further team news in Seville on Tuesday when previewing the round-of-16 tie.

Jose Mourinho to let Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs shadow training sessions

Jose Mourinho has offered to help former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs in the early days of his foray into management with Wales, according to reports.
The 44-year-old took his first job since leaving Old Trafford, where he was assistant to Mourinho’s predecessor Louis van Gaal, when he accepted the Wales job back in January.
And now, despite a somewhat fraught relationship with Mourinho due to comments made about United last season, The Sun claim he will be allowed to visit United’s Carrington training base.

Mourinho has not only invited Giggs to observe training, but will also have a one-on-one chat with the Welshman over becoming a manager and tactics in general.
There is still a lot of respect and admiration for Giggs at United, and the club are happy to help him in any way possible as he looks to make his mark in management.

Giggs has previously criticised United’s play under Mourinho, which the Portuguese reacted angrily to, but he has buried the hatchet and is looking forward to watching Giggs’ career unfold.
Speaking after he left United in 2016 along with Van Gaal, Giggs said: ‘There was no offer from Jose Mourinho. No offer. It was my choice to go.

‘As soon as Louis was going I had made my decision to go. I had done two years and I wanted to do three years under Louis. It didn’t happen.
‘That was my plan to do my three years and see what happened after that. Unfortunately, that was cut short. It happens. That’s football. But I didn’t really feel I could go on at the club in any other capacity apart from manager.’