MANCHESTER UNITED VS WATFORD

United manager Mourinho responded to the Basel defeat by dropping four outfield players from his weekend matchday squad and reminded his squad that Romelu Lukaku's mentality is the benchmark.

"In the last minute he was fighting and running back like he was there from the first minute," Mourinho said of Lukaku. "So I think it is also a mentality question.

"The way Romelu wins the corner for the goal, the way Romelu ends the game making tackles in left-back positions, that's the mentality I want and unfortunately not every player is the same. Players are men, men are different, men are unique cases and some guys are capable to go into the limits of their effort and some other guys, even with a lot of talent, they don't manage to do that.

"So Romelu, for me fantastic. Didn't score, I don't care."

United lost 3-1 at Vicarage Road at the start of last season, when Mourinho criticised Luke Shaw's lax defending for Juan Zuniga's winner. Watford were managed by Walter Mazzarri back then but appointed Marco Silva in the summer and Mourinho believes The Hornets have improved.

"Against Watford I was very upset with Watford's first goal after some guy sent Martial to the hospital and the referee let it go for the first goal," Mourinho stressed, referring to the concussion Anthony Martial suffered in the build-up to Etienne Capoue's opener. "That's the reason I was very upset.

"I think Watford made also progress, I think they have an unusual squad for a mid-table team, I think they have a squad full of very good players that are not normal to be in this mid-table teams. They have a good coach, they improve a lot from last season, too."

Mourinho admitted at the weekend he wanted to bring off Paul Pogba during the Brighton victory but kept him on to ensure United secured three points.

"Honestly, I think Paul played very well," Mourinho added. "But even Paul today he didn't manage to be fully in control.

"They come with three players in midfield, normally they come with two, they come with three. They have three players in the straight lines. Stephens was always a long ball [and] by Matic and was difficult for them to press, Marcus and Martial, without the tactical knowledge that another player has to close the spaces in between the full-back and the number six.

"So even with Paul we were a little bit in trouble. But Paul again played very well, against Basel he played very well, today again. And I wanted to take him out of the game but I felt the points were still there, to fight for them and I knew in the last part of the game they would bring the fear and play long balls and I thought that Fellaini would be important.

"But Paul was also important because you could see in the last part of the game he was one of the guys who kept the ball, who kept possession of the ball, brought the ball into corners and tried to win a few seconds of possession away from our goal. So Paul was good."

"I'm happy with the three points, I'm happy with the attitude of the team that didn't play well and the attitude of the team that didn't play well is very important," Mourinho said after the Brighton win. "And honestly, is quite a surprise for me but I think the supporters were fantastic.

"We've had matches at home where we've played really, really well and they were a bit soft and today they were behind the team. The team was not playing well, the team was 0-0, they support the team, they support the players, then in the last part of the game, at home, at Old Trafford, we felt problems against Brighton, they are promoted, and the supporters were behind the team. They support the team, they support the players, so also really happy with them."

Confirmed United squad members

David de Gea

Sergio Romero

Joel Pereira

Matteo Darmian

Antonio Valencia

Daley Blind

Marcos Rojo

Victor Lindelof

Chris Smalling

Ashley Young

Jesse Lingard

Ander Herrera

Paul Pogba

Nemanja Matic

Scott McTominay

Juan Mata

Anthony Martial

Zlatan Ibrahimovic