Mourinho blames United forwards after West Brom draw

Jose Mourinho called the consistency of his attacking players into question after Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw by West Brom on Saturday.

In the absence of the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic and injured Juan Mata, United managed 18 shots but only three on target as they toiled against a disciplined visiting team who sat back to defend throughout the match at Old Trafford.

Marcus Rashford was denied by a fine save from Ben Foster late on but clear-cut chances were otherwise scarce, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and substitute Wayne Rooney unable to make a telling impact.

And Mourinho accused his forwards of only offering "a glimpse of talent" as they played out an eighth draw in 15 home games in the top flight this season.

"In teams that want to win things, you need consistency in the individuals," the United boss told a news conference. 

"In some other clubs, in some teams where you play for the top 10, a player with talent is always welcome even if that talent is not consistent, even if that talent is one day yes, one day no.

"In teams at this level, you need to be consistent. [On Saturday], for 90 minutes, [Antonio] Valencia was consistent, Ashley Young was consistent, Marcos Rojo was consistent, [Eric] Bailly was consistent, [Marouane] Fellaini was consistent, [Michael] Carrick was consistent, and the other ones were not consistent.

"The other ones were a flash of talent, a glimpse of talent, one good action, almost a goal. And we need to kill opponents.

"This is deja vu all season. And when you score a goal against these teams you don't win 1-0, you win 3-0 or 4-0 because you score a goal and then the game is open and then you have a completely different story because then they have to play a different way.

"And we are not consistent on this, we miss easy chances, we have moments or periods where we push really but then a couple of players they disappear and they have 10 minutes where we don't see them. And you see always the same people, always the same guys, always the same guys in front of the train, pulling the train.

"So it's disappointing because it's one more draw, it's an amazing unbeaten run, amazing. Nineteen matches [without defeat] in the modern Premier League is fantastic.

"But it is too many draws at home, because some draws away from home are acceptable, positive, you can deal with it. But too many draws at home."

United host Everton on Tuesday before a trip to Sunderland next weekend and Mourinho admits that the hectic fixture schedule is taking its toll on the players.

"It's such a small squad, I cannot be happy to play in two days without options," he added to MUTV. "I'm happy to play every game but, in this moment, I'm without options.

"Many people, especially in some positions, cannot play and I would prefer to give a little rest to brave guys like Antonio and Eric, who were playing for the national teams and travelling here to come to play again. They deserve a little bit more but we have to do it so let's go."