Manchester United's Jose Mourinho denies he was astonished by Ashley Young's brilliant free-kick

Mourinho claimed he was simply surprised that Paul Pogba had let the full-back take the set-piece, and joked that Romelu Lukaku is due a new boot sponsorship deal

Ashley Young scored a spectacular free-kick against Watford (Getty)

Jose Mourinho says his apparent shock when Ashley Young scored his brilliant free-kick against Watford was more with the fact that Paul Pogba had let his teammate take it, rather than any surprise at the quality of the goal. Young scored the first two goals of the 4-2 victory, with the second only improving on the brilliant quality of the first, and Mourinho was shown on television looking around at his bench in amused astonishment.

“I was surprised that Paul gave him permission,” the Manchester United boss chuckled afterwards. “I was not surprised with his shot. He’s quite good. His percentage of success in training is quite high, but Paul is also good and his shot is normally more powerful. So in that position I was expecting Paul to take it.”

Mourinho also paid tribute to how Young has adapted to a new role on the left side of defence. “He’s playing well. I know what he can do for us, all the positions he can be useful for us. This left-back position I think is adapted to him and probably in this stage of his career he has the maturity and the tactical experience, it’s good. He’s playing really well.”

Mourinho also joked that Lukaku needs a big new boot deal to get him scoring again, after the Belgian hit another blank in what was an otherwise good display. Lukaku provided a brilliant assist for Anthony Martial for his side’s third, but squandered two chances of his own, as he played in blacked-out boots due to his deal with his previous sponsorship deal running out. Mourinho picked up on that when asked about the striker’s dip in scoring form to make light of it, as he generally praised Lukaku’s contribution.

“He needs a big contract with boots,” the United boss said. “At this moment he doesn't have a contract with any brand. That is why he is playing with the black boots. He needs a brand to give him the right boots and to pay the right money, so he goes back to goals.

“Jokes apart, he works amazingly well for the team. I would never blame a player like him for that easy chance he missed. Never. With me he knows that he doesn't have that pressure. He is an amazing player and an amazing professional. Great ambition, great colleague. I couldn't be happy with him.


 Young scored twice to fire United to victory (Getty)

“He finished the deal. Now he is waiting for the right offer and is playing in black boots.”

Lukaku has scored just once in his last 11 matches (Getty)

It was put to Mourinho whether he could get a New Balance deal after the news emerged that Marouane Fellaini is taking legal action against the company, to which the United boss chuckled.