UK Edition
Jose Mourinho underlines Romelu Lukaku's importance to Man Utd - 'We cannot think about resting our No 9'
Jose Mourinho has underlined Romelu Lukaku’s importance to Manchester United by insisting he will give no consideration to resting the Belgium striker until Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from injury.
The United manager also confirmed Paul Pogba’s torn hamstring is a “long-term” injury, with The Telegraph reporting this week that the France midfielder is unlikely to be back in action until after the November international break.
Lukaku has played in almost every minute of every game for United and Belgium this season – nearly 1,000 minutes of football in total – scoring 10 goals in nine matches for his club and four in two appearances for his country.
Mourinho said it would be Roberto Martinez’s decision whether to rest Lukaku for Belgium’s impending World Cup qualifying matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus given that they have already qualified for Russia.
But the Portuguese was adamant Lukaku would continue to start for United, at least until the return of Ibrahimovic gives him another option. Mourinho has said previously that he expects to have the Swede available from January although the player is targeting a December return.
“Look, without Zlatan, we cannot rotate the striker, especially because Marcus Rashford is playing also in other positions,” Mourinho said ahead of Saturday's visit of bottom club Crystal Palace. “So until the moment we have Zlatan we cannot think about giving rest to our No 9, the same way we give in other positions. We cannot do that.
“Belgium is Roberto’s responsibility and it’s his decision to play him or not to play him. I cannot, professionally speaking, say, ‘Do this or do that’.”
“I think every step in his [Lukaku’s] career he grabbed it [the opportunity] with both hands. It was always his dream to come to this level and since he arrived I don’t think he thinks about another thing than in his success so he works hard, he rests, he has a great professional life outside the football pitch.”
Mourinho scoffed at suggestions United’s strong start to the season is down to a favourable early fixture list. “Your colleague was basically saying that we have good results because we are playing against bad teams,” he said. “So how can we be excited with what we are doing if we are doing that just because we are playing against bad teams?
“I don’t think Everton, West Ham, Leicester will be happy with that [claim] but okay, we have our feet on the ground, we are humble, we know that the great teams of the Premier League we didn’t play them yet so we are calm.”
Mourinho was similarly unhappy about the fixture schedule that sees his team play Palace at 3pm on Saturday, despite the squad only returning to Manchester around 4am on Thursday from Moscow where they beat CSKA 4-1 in the Champions League.
By contrast, Liverpool played in the Russian capital against Spartak Moscow on Tuesday but do not play Newcastle until 4.30pm on Sunday, but Mourinho believes the way Premier League fixtures are organised before and after European assignments uniformly puts English clubs at a disadvantage to their rivals.
“I never had explanations, I never had even the faces, or the names, of the persons involved in these criteria,” he said. “But it’s not just me or us. I think in the end it happens to everyone. I just think it’s strange because in every country the decisions are made to protect the clubs and here that doesn’t happen.”
Meanwhile, Mourinho has been summoned to appear in a Madrid court on November 3, two days before he faces former club Chelsea in the Premier League, over alleged tax evasions claims.