Jose Mourinho Says Man United Are 'Not Such a Good Team' Without Paul Pogba

Jose Mourinho said his Manchester United side struggled in their 1-0 UEFA Champions League defeat to FC Basel on Wednesday after Paul Pogba came off in the second half. 

Adam Higgins of United's official website rounded up the manager's reaction to the game from his press conference and comments from BT Sport. Mourinho said of Pogba's substitution:

"I think it did have an impact, we were not such a good team after Paul came off but it had to be with the levels of fatigue after 65 minutes. I brought to the pitch an experienced player like [Nemanja] Matic and thought it couldn't affect the game. I bring Marcus [Rashford] to give us more speed, more problems to them, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] to hold the ball and the approach was good."

The Frenchman recently returned to action after a two-month absence, though while he was out, Mourinho insisted United "never miss" their injured players, per Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News.

After a star turn against Newcastle United at the weekend, Pogba again impressed in Basel, Switzerland, as the MEN's James Robson noted:

The Red Devils were dominant in the first half and missed a multitude of chances.

Romelu Lukaku failed to beat Tomas Vaclik in an early one-on-one opportunity, while Marouane Fellaini had a header cleared off the line, sent one wide and glanced another against the post. 

In the final minutes of the half, Anthony Martial was denied from a tight angle after an electric run down the left, and Marcos Rojo had a long-range effort deflected onto the bar.

The second half was almost all Basel, particularly after Pogba's departure, and the hosts' pressure eventually told in the 89th minute when Michael Lang struck to maintain their record of scoring in all 14 of their home matches against English opposition.

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Mourinho rued United's missed chances: "We lost because in the first half we should be 5-0 up, but we could not score one goal after being so dominant. It looked for many periods in the first half that it was impossible not to win."

He did not blame his players, however: "I cannot complain or blame the players. I think we play a match like this 10 times and nine times we win comfortably but the one was now."

Football writer Jordan Clarke believed the manager was responsible:

Having won their first four group-stage matches, United remain in a strong position to qualify for the knockout round, though, so the defeat should be of relatively little consequence.

Per Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail, the Special One added: "Can you help me with the maths? What do we need against CSKA [Moscow]? I don't even think we need to draw. We can lose by some numbers and still go through."

Indeed, as BBC Sport's Simon Stone confirmed, it would take an extraordinary result for United not to go through:

With the Red Devils' Champions League campaign still on track despite the defeat, it will allow Mourinho to rest and rotate his players for their final group match, which will be invaluable in December as United have eight games, with the CSKA clash coming in between contests against Arsenal and Manchester City.

It's clear Pogba's presence has a significant impact on their play, and they will need him at his best if they are to pick up wins in those matches.