Mourinho Reveals The Player Who Is ‘Untouchable’ At United
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Manchester United have been on a goalscoring streak since the start of the campaign, after having failed to register an ample amount of goals in the previous campaign. One of the biggest sources of those goals has been new arrival Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian international has recorded 10 goals and 3 assists across all competitions since arriving at Old Trafford, and is currently the English side’s top goalscorer so far.
However, Lukaku was still not received positively by the United faithful, after suffering a rather poor outing against Tottenham Hotspur. Jose Mourinho’s decision to substitute Marcus Rashford for Anthony Martial sparked boos and jeers from the Old Trafford crowd, as they were expecting the former Everton man to walk off instead.
Nevertheless, the decision proved to be the most vital point in the fixture, as Martial’s goal saw the Red Devils emerge victorious thanks to an assist by the Belgian. And impressed by his £75 million signing, the United boss has now gone on to defend him as ‘untouchable’.
“The fans are the fans and I also told that the fans paid their ticket,” said the former Real Madrid boss. “They are free to express themselves the way they want to express, but my job is to protect my players and I think Romelu is one of the players that should be untouchable in terms of the respect from everyone.
“It’s not one goal or one ball that hit the post or one that can make Romelu’s contribution below the top level, he’s playing extremely well for us and I have to protect my players when I feel they deserve it and Romelu always deserves it because what he does for the team is fantastic.
REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski
“Playing football for a striker is not just about scoring goals. So he is untouchable in my team and also in the support and respect he deserves from the fans.
“I don’t think he was quiet [against Spurs] at all, ask Alderweireld and Vertonghen and Dier if he was quiet and they are some of the best centre defenders in football. I don’t think he was quiet as well, the qualities of scoring goals or not scoring goals because in the end that is what people analyse, but he was not quiet at all.”
Though the 24-year-old possess split opinions about him, his goalscoring threat has always proved his worth, and he has the perfect opportunity to win back his fans’ trust during the Mancunian giants’ Champions League clash against Portuguese giants Benfica on Tuesday.
Written by Ashish Sreejith 
Have had two addictions in life- playing football and watching football. Usually described as introverted but not when it comes to speaking and writing about the beautiful game of football.