Mourinho picks one Man United player out for praise

Matt Stead

Jose Mourinho was particularly impressed with Marcos Rojo despite Manchester United’s defeat to Basel.

United were beaten 1-0 in Switzerland on Wednesday, with Michael Lang scoring the only goal.

The visitors were on top for almost all of the first half before ceding control in the second, as their lack of width was key. Poor Luke Shaw.

The game marked the return of Rojo from injury, with the centre-half making his first start since April 20.

The Argentinean impressed alongside Chris Smalling, and his performance caught his manager’s eye.

“[Marcos] Rojo played very well,” Mourinho told the club’s official website. “I think he could be playing a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t need to rush him, push him into that situation, but he was training with the team for quite a long time.

“He had 45 minutes with the Under-23s team. We knew Marcos was ready, the doubt was 90 minutes and lasting 90 minutes. But [the] first half [was] very easy. He had a lot of the ball, he didn’t have to be physically demanding.

“He controlled his game very well so I’m really happy. We need that with no Jones. We need Marcos back to give us the stability.”