Jose Mourinho launched a stinging attack on pundits who criticised him about his usage of English attacker Marcus Rashford for Manchester United.
Ahead of United's Premier League game against Watford, the Red Devils manager responded to criticism from former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher, who had said following the two England games that Rashford would need to move to another club to get game time and further his progress.
Mourinho did not take lightly to that comment and brought out the stats at the press conference, saying that Rashford has played 5,744 minutes in 105 games since he became Manchester United manager.
"People speaking about his (Rashford) minutes, they are a bit confused," said the Manchester United manager.
"Since I've been here, Marcus Rashford has been selected for every single match – he was never, not even for one day, out of selection because of my decision or because he was injured or, like in this case, because he is suspended. He was never, never out of selection, so he knows and that's the most important thing," said Mourinho.
He then compared Rashford to other promising English talents in other top clubs in England who have been underutilised, highlighting his argument that he has afforded the 20-year-old ample game time.
"Marcus Rashford is not Dominic Solanke. He's not Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He's not Dominic Calvert-Lewin. "He's Marcus Rashford, Manchester United player, with an incredible number of appearances and an incredible number of minutes played at the highest level in the best possible competitions."
Mourinho also said that Rashford can play wide or as a striker, but had to play in a central position for England because of the system that England manager Gareth Southgate employs.
Manchester United play high-flying Watford, who won all four of their matches this season, at Vicarage Road on Saturday. Rashford will not be a part of the match after being sent-off in United's last Premier League game against Burnley.
