Manchester United somehow lost at home to West Bromwich Albion, the side at the absolute bottom of the entire table, on Sunday. This transpired a week after the Red Devils won at the home of the Premier League champions. It’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in its purest form, and it’s going to lead to some major changes in the starting XI tomorrow night.
Mourinho is going to punish some of the first teamers who didn’t perform versus the Baggies by dropping them at the Vitality Stadium in mid week. It’s not simply “rotating the squad” according to Mourinho.
“Rotating is not the right word. If I play a player against Bournemouth and the player is phenomenal, he plays the semifinal,” he said.
“So it is not rotating, because rotating looks like a player that plays against Bournemouth is to give a rest to somebody that is going to play against Spurs in the semifinal.
“So the word is not rotation, it is an opportunity for some people to play and to try to get a place in the team for Spurs and some of the guys that played don’t have a place in that team.”
Yes, Wednesday provides the opportunity for substitutes to make a name for themselves and earn a place against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the FA Cup semifinal at Wembley Stadium. In other words, Mourinho has one eye on this match and another on the weekend’s more important clash.
“What is the criteria for a manager to choose a team? I only know one criteria, is the way they play. It is the only way I can select players,” Mourinho continued.
“Or do you want me to go for the price they cost, or their salary, or their beautiful face? The only way is to go with performance.”
Injury Report: go to this link
Man United Starting XI prediction: go to this link
Odds: United 3/4 Bournemouth 41/13 Draw 22/5
Prediction: Man United 1, Bournemouth 0
As always, feel free to post to your own Bournemouth and/or United starting XI predictions, as well as your score predictions, in the comments section below.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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