Jose Mourinho explains why he made no substitutions in Manchester United loss to Juventus

Jose Mourinho says he had no options on the bench capable of changing the match in Manchester United’s favour as he made no substitutions in Tuesday’s Champions League loss to Juventus.

The Italian giants took the lead through Paulo Dybala in the first half and dominated the match throughout, with United coming closest when Paul Pogba hit the post from long range. Despite needing a goal, Mourinho did not introduce any new players and says he was hamstrung by his lack of attacking options, with teenager Tahith Chong the only winger he could call on.

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The Italian giants took the lead through Paulo Dybala in the first half and dominated the match throughout, with United coming closest when Paul Pogba hit the post from long range. Despite needing a goal, Mourinho did not introduce any new players and says he was hamstrung by his lack of attacking options, with teenager Tahith Chong the only winger he could call on.  

 

Asked why he made no changes, Mourinho explained: ‘Well, you have to bear in mind that Alexis Sanchez was in the stands, Jesse Lingard was in the stands. ‘Fellaini may or may not have been in the stands – he might have been at home I didn’t see him. And the only really attacking options I had on the bench was a young 18-year-old lad whose never played in the first team before.

‘And I didn’t think, given the dynamic of the game, it would have been appropriate to put him on. ‘You can’t expect a young kid coming on, making his debut in a game like that, to be able to give me something like scoring a goal. So basically that’s why I didn’t make any changes and just stuck with the players we had out on the pitch.’

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/23/jose-mourinho-explains-why-he-made-no-substitutions-in-manchester-united-loss-to-juventus-8068474/?ito=cbshare
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‘And I didn’t think, given the dynamic of the game, it would have been appropriate to put him on. ‘You can’t expect a young kid coming on, making his debut in a game like that, to be able to give me something like scoring a goal. So basically that’s why I didn’t make any changes and just stuck with the players we had out on the pitch.’

 

On his side’s efforts, he continued: ‘[It was a] really difficult match. In the first half they were in control by having a lot of the ball, they managed to have the ball, hide the ball form us, frustrate us, frustrate our intention to be positive in the game. ‘In the second half we were more aggressive. Big effort by the boys. The same team that played two days ago. 

Not really attacking solutions on the bench to try. ‘No Fellaini to change the direction of the game like we do so many times. So we did the possible, and I’m happy with the players. Since the draw we knew that it would be a fight with Valencia to the second position and that is what we’re going to try.’