Jose Mourinho Admits Players Have Given Him FA Cup Headache With Positive Showing Against Cherries

Jose Mourinho was pleased with Manchester United's 2-0 win at Bournemouth on Wednesday evening. The victory was a much needed boost for the red side of Manchester following their dismal showing at home to West Brom on Sunday.

Speaking to BT Sport (via ESPN) about how the game influenced his selection for this weekend's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham, Mourinho admitted: "I would say every player on the pitch was positive and put himself forward for Saturday. The players were good."

Mourinho made several high profile changes to United's team for the trip to the Vitality Stadium, most notably the exclusions of Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku would eventually be substituted on and score, but Sanchez would remain on the bench, likely being rested for the FA Cup clash.

Catherine Ivill/GettyImages

With seven new faces in the starting 11, some would have expected United to struggle on the small pitch at Bournemouth, but the Pogba-led team rose to the occasion. Speaking on the general team performance, Mourinho said: "I think it was a good team performance - professional, good effort, desire to play and to have the ball. Part of that collective performance, good individual performances all of them."

With rumours having surfaced this week about Pogba and Mourinho's relationship taking a turn for the worse, the United boss was keen to praise the French midfielder's outstanding performance, insisting: "Against Manchester City he was phenomenal, also because of the goals, but today he was very, very good."

United's focus will now turn to their crucial game against Tottenham this Saturday. With their chances of silverware this season resting on this game, Mourinho will be hoping for a similar performance to the one displayed on Wednesday evening.