Jose Mourinho Defends Tactics, Talks Paul Pogba After Sevilla 0-0 Man United

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho defended his tactics after his team were held to a goalless draw in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg against Sevilla on Wednesday. 

According to Sky Sports' Gerard Brand, the Special One was asked whether Alexis Sanchez—who was part of a United front line that mustered just six shots while hosts Sevilla registered 25—welcomes detailed tactical instructions rather than being allowed to play with freedom.

Mourinho replied:

"I think you are all, or many of you, are in a new sport! In England, some guys say the wingers shouldn't defend.

"The next time I see David Beckham I'm going to ask him: 'David, when you were playing right wing at Manchester United, when the opposition left-back attacked, do you stay looking at the stands? Or do you come back with the guy?' I'm going to ask David that.

"And everybody knows that I'm not big friends with Roy Keane or Paul Scholes, but I will ask them: 'When your team lost the ball, did you drop back? Or did you stay walking on the pitch?'"

Mourinho added that in top teams "everyone has tactical discipline" and that his approach was to attack when his side had possession and defend when they did not.

While United have improved significantly going forward from the days of Mourinho's predecessor, Louis van Gaal—under whom the team netted just 49 Premier League goals in 2015/16—they still often leave much to be desired despite Romelu Lukaku and Sanchez's additions.

The Daily Telegraph's James Ducker was not impressed, while Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News was not surprised:

Mourinho did not believe the numbers reflected the two sides' performances at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, though.

Per Adam Higgins of United's official website, he said: "The game was even. The stats are what it is. Sometimes you have 15 shots, but 13 of them were what I call 'statistic shots,' so I really feel that the result reflects what the game was."

Though Sevilla outshot United—and troubled the excellent David De Gea on a couple of occasions—many of their efforts were relatively harmless strikes from distance.

ESPN FC's Rob Dawson still believed the Red Devils did well to come away with a goalless draw, though Mark Ogden of the same outlet disagreed:

A clean sheet away from home in the UEFA Champions League is not to be sniffed at, but it's difficult to back United to win the tie at Old Trafford with any significant degree of certainty.

Mourinho was also asked about Paul Pogba's performance after he came on for the injured Ander Herrera just 17 minutes into the match.

The manager took issue with the discussion surrounding the France international and instead extolled the virtues of Scott McTominay, but he added Pogba made a "big effort" to meet the requirements he placed on the team.

Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images

Mourinho continued on Pogba:

"He tried to bring to the game the same kind of qualities plus his security with the ball. Of course, he lost a couple of possessions, but he gave us also stability.

"We had a good percentage of possession for the way we play and the match away at home against a good team like Sevilla; we had a good percentage of the ball and that means control of the game.

"I think Paul had responsibilities on that and I am also happy with [Nemanja] Matic. I think the three midfield players, they had good control, and Paul was part of it."

While he did not put in a poor performance, there was relatively little Pogba or United's other creative players could do in an attacking sense for much of the match, so his showing isn't likely to silence his critics.

United will need to play the second leg on March 13 on the front foot, and if they do that, it should give the midfielder more opportunity to shine.

He will need to take that chance or the Red Devils could find themselves facing an early exit from Europe's elite club competition.