Jose Mourinho heaps praise on Tahith Chong after Man Utd debut

Jose Mourinho praised young debutant Tahith Chong for his 30-minute cameo in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Club America on Friday morning.

The 18-year-old Dutch winger, who was young player of the year at United last season, helped make the leveller in Phoenix after the tourists fell behind just before Chong’s arrival.

Chong impressed on the wing before and after the goal, and though Mourinho sees physical limitations in the youngster at this stage, the manager praised him for his confidence.

Mourinho told MUTV: “He was good. He came with the intention to show, and in a moment where we have no strikers on the pitch, Martial was the only one and then he left, so we needed people to create, have some initiative, which he did.

“The action for the cross for the goal is a beautiful action. He was enthusiastic, he was confident to play.

Man Utd 1-1 Club America
As it happened

“Of course physically he has his limitations, and when he has one more touch and he allows that body contact of course he loses it, but when he makes the ball move and attacks people one against one, he has quality. He’s a good kid.”

Mourinho is without several first-team stars for the US tour due to the World Cup, but bizarrely admitted he did not know whether Alexis Sanchez was in LA or Manchester.

The Chilean, who was not involved at the World Cup, saw his journey delayed due to visa issues having accepted a 16-month suspended jail sentence in Spain earlier this year for tax fraud, though he has now been cleared to enter the US.

“I don’t even know if he is flying, if he is in LA, if he is in Manchester, I have no idea about it. But no [Romelu] Lukaku, no [Marcus] Rashford, for sure we have to try with what we have.”

Overall, Mourinho felt the friendly draw was a “good training session” against a side who are far deeper into their pre-season schedule.

“It was good. After five days of training, you need to play and it’s good to play against a team that is three days away from starting the Mexican league.

“A team with intensity, with quality that pushed us to levels we are not prepared for, but pushed us there, so a good training session.”

MUTV is the only place to watch all of Manchester United’s pre-season matches live, and hear first on new signings. Go to www.sky.com/mutv to find out more, or go to Sky channel 418 and press red.

(c) Sky News 2018: Jose Mourinho heaps praise on Tahith Chong after Man Utd debut