Mourinho Doesn't See Rashford, Martial As Central Strikers

Jose Mourinho has revealed that he doesn’t see Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial as central strikers. The duo are usually deployed in wide positions by the Portuguese coach, who has preferred Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic down the middle since taking charge at Old Trafford. Many believe that Rashford and Martial could excel in a more central role, but not Mourinho.

With both Lukaku and Ibrahimovic absent through injury, Mourinho named Martial as his main striker to play Everton. But speaking before the game, he said the injured pair were his only No.9s. ‘We have what we have and we trust the players,’ he told Sky Sports when asked who would score the goals in the absence of the injured pair. 

‘The players want to give everything which they are doing since the first minute of the season. ‘No Lukaku and no Ibra means we don’t have No 9 as you normally call a target man that we are used to play so we have to change. ‘If you don’t have a player like Lukaku or a normal replacement like Zlatan we have to play with the qualities we have. We have to forget that way of play with a target man as we don’t have.’

Mourinho also used his pre-match interview to provide a positive update on Lukaku, who he expects to be back in a week following a nasty clash of heads.