Jose Mourinho is always a man to fight his corner and the Special One has once again come out fighting against his critics today.
Speaking his his Watford pre-match press conference, the Manchester United Manager was asked about his treatment of Marcus Rashford and that led to stat laden rant about the young Englishman.
"So, Manchester United supporters. For you - and just for you - to know what we are doing with Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay. That's what we are doing here."
The former Chelsea Manager was responding to "obsessed" people having their say on Marcus Rashford after the young England striker impressed in a central position for England during the International break.
Mourinho has been reluctant to play the 20-year-old in his preferred position but compared to other players of a similar age, the stats do compare favourably according to the Old Trafford gaffer.
"On the season 16-17 Marcus Rashford played 32 Premier League matches, 11 Europa League matches, including the final, three FA Cup matches, six League Cup matches including the final and the Community Shield. He had 53 appearances but if you want to take to the minutes of play, he played 3,068 and if you want to divide that by 90 minutes of the matches, he played 34.2 matches of 90 minutes."
Marcus Rashford will certainly be missing from the Man United squad this weekend as the Red Devils head to Watford through suspension having been sent off against Burnley, but the stats pointed out by Mourinho are fascinating and offer an alternative view to the general narrative in the press.
