Jose Mourinho said that £75m signing Romelu Lukaku had taken the decision himself not to start the FA Cup final because of his ankle injury.
With Lukaku not having played since limping off against Arsenal in April, Mourinho insisted that he couldn’t start with his centre forward because the player had said he wasn’t ready.
Mourinho said: ‘It’s not difficult decision. It was an easy decision. When a player tells you he’s not ready to play, that he’s not ready to start the game, then the question is how many minutes do you think you can? How can I convince a player that is not ready to play?
Lukaku did come on after 73 minutes but couldn’t make a major impression. Mourinho has previously been critical of players, notably Chris Smalling, for not being ‘brave’ coming back from injured, though it turned out the defender had a broken toe on that occasion.
The United manager did not elaborate on whether the same applied to Lukaku, who has a World Cup with Belgium next month.
But he did say that the absence of his centre forward and the Mauroune Fellaini, also ruled out with injury, disrupted his tactical plans.
‘I knew the opponent I was going to play against. I knew they have a compact low block with lots of physicality where they try to close everything. I knew without a target man it would be difficult for us.’
‘I knew at least Fellaini coming from the second line, attacking their second line with his physicality would be difficult. I wouldn’t expect that the game was exactly like it was. I think it was a bit too much.’
Mourinho took exception to questions indicating that United had started the game badly. ‘You think?’ he said.
‘I don’t agree. With your questions I know already where I am and I don’t have a big desire to speak. I think it’s better to say congratulations to the winners and that’s it.’
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