Jose Mourinho lets rip at his flaky 'disappearing' forwards as Manchester United manager moans: They're inconsistent and miss easy chances

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Jose Mourinho laid into his flair players after Manchester United were held to a goalless draw at home by West Bromwich Albion.

Expensive recruits Anthony Martial and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, plus popular academy graduates Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard bore the brunt of the United manager's frustrations after an eighth Premier League draw of the season at Old Trafford.

Mourinho said his flaky front four were inconsistent and contrasted their performances with the rest of the outfield players, who barely gave West Brom a sniff of goal. 'At some clubs, talent is always welcome even if it's not consistent,' he said.

Jose Mourinho has a face of thunder as his side struggle to break down West Brom

'One day yes, one day no. For teams at this level if you want to win things, you need to be consistent.

'Today for 90 minutes, Antonio Valencia was consistent, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick. The other ones were not consistent.

'It was a flash of talent, a glimpse. Almost a goal, but we need to kill opponents. Somebody who saw our goals record would think we are a defensive team, a counter-attack team that doesn't have ambition. But it is completely the opposite.

'Rashford, Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Martial, see how may goals they score. Zlatan and [Juan] Mata are the ones with more goals. If it wasn't for them the situation gets even more difficult.'

Mourinho jots down notes as his side struggle to find their clinical edge at Old Trafford

Henrikh Mkhitaryan failed to beat Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster when put clean through

Ibrahimovic, who has now completed a three-match ban and will be available to face Everton on Tuesday, has scored 26 goals — the same amount as the four players mentioned by Mourinho put together.

Rashford has not scored a league goal since September while Mkhitaryan, the £28 million signing from Borussia Dortmund failed to beat Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster when put clean through and was later replaced by Wayne Rooney.

'This is deja vu all season,' said Mourinho, whose side missed the chance to press for a top-four place ahead of Manchester City, who visit Arsenal today. 'We're not consistent. We miss easy chances. We have moments or periods when we push, but then a couple of players disappear for 10 minutes, when you don't see them.'

Although United are traditionally a club that thrives on bringing through young talent, Mourinho made it clear he prefers to trust experienced and reliable players.

'You always see the same people, the same guys in front, pulling the train. It's disappointing,' he said.

Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard failed to deliver

Martial went close with a header as United tried to find a way through the Albion defence

Another youngster, £27m England defender Luke Shaw, was not even given a place on the bench on Saturday. And the treatment of Rashford is a high-risk strategy by Mourinho with the club placing great faith in the teenager as following in the footsteps of the Class of 92.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has told Untied to prioritise the signing of a specialist holding midfield player after blaming their lack of a title challenge on failing to land N'Golo Kante last summer.

He has been linked with £40million moves for Monaco's Tiemoue Bakayoko and Eric Dier at Tottenham. 

Marcus Rashford went close with a couple of shots but it was another frustrating afternoon

Teenager striker Rashford has not scored a league goal for United since September