Mourinho vows to wield the axe

LONDON, England－Jose Mourinho has vowed to drop several of Manchester United's stars as he fumes over his team's lackluster loss to West Bromwich Albion.

United crashed to a stunning 1-0 home loss to cellar-dwelling Albion on Sunday as Jay Rodriguez sealed the visitor's first Premier League win in three months.

The limp performance gift-wrapped the Premier League title for archrival Manchester City and left United boss Mourinho seething.

He accused his players of resting on their laurels after beating City two weeks ago.

Now Mourinho will take action when he selects his team for Wednesday's league trip to Bournemouth and Saturday's FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.

"Rotating is not the right word," Mourinho said. "If I play a player against Bournemouth and he is phenomenal, he plays the semifinal.

"So it's not rotating, because rotating looks like a player that plays against Bournemouth is to give a rest to somebody that is going to play against Spurs in the semifinal.

"So, the word is not rotation, it is an opportunity for people, for some people to play and to try to get a place in the team for Spurs－and some of the guys that played (against West Brom), they don't have a place in that team."

Asked to clarify if he meant that some of those who underperformed against the Baggies would now not play against Tottenham, Mourinho replied: "Yeah. What is the criteria for a manager to choose a team? I only know one-the way you play is the only way I can select players.

"Or do you want me to go for the price they cost, or their salary or their beautiful face? The only way is to go with performance."

Ander Herrera was replaced at halftime on Sunday, Paul Pogba was benched in the 58th minute, while Ashley Young was withdrawn in the 75th.

France midfielder Pogba was a shadow of the imposing, match-winning presence seen in the second half of the 3-2 derby win over City.

"It was not just him," Mourinho said of Pogba's performance.

"And he had a yellow card, so he was in a more difficult position than others.

"Playing with only two midfield players, you cannot go on with one player who is at risk of not being able to make a foul.

"You can do it if your team is not losing the ball, but our team was losing the ball so easy with the complication, everything was complicated, so we were losing lots of balls.

"So, by losing lots of balls, with turnings and flicks and tricks, the midfield players and central defenders are at risk of one touch, one late challenge and they are out."

AFP