Jose Mourinho furious with Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini for failing to play through pain barrier in FA Cup final

Jose Mourinho failed to address his Manchester United squad after their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup final with the Portuguese boss suspecting that Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini were saving themselves for the World Cup instead of putting their bodies on the line.

Eden Hazard’s first half penalty was enough for the Blues to come out on top at Wembley and United sorely missed the presence of Lukaku up front.

The Belgian had been struggling with an ankle injury in the build-up to the game and told Mourinho that he wasn’t fit enough to start. He was introduced with twenty minutes to go but failed to have an impact on the game.

Fellaini missed the last three games of the season and was not part of United’s 18-man squad at Wembley. The midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to leave Old Trafford.

United started with Marcus Rashford up front but missed the physical presence that Lukaku and Fellaini provide, something Mourinho pointed out after the game.

‘When a player tells you he’s not ready to play, that he’s not ready to start the game, then the question is how many minutes do you think you can? How can I convince a player that is not ready to play?’ said Mourinho.

‘I knew the opponent I was going to play against. I knew they have a compact low block with lots of physicality where they try to close everything. I knew without a target man it would be difficult for us.

‘I knew at least Fellaini coming from the second line, attacking their second line with his physicality would be difficult.’

The 55-year-old emerged for his post-game press conference suspiciously early and blasted Chelsea’s tactics during the 1-0 defeat.

The defeat means United end the season trophyless and Mourinho will be under increased pressure to win silverware as he enters his third term at Old Trafford next season.

However, Mourinho fears the pair made their decisions with one eye on the World Cup and didn’t want to risk themselves in the final, according to the Daily Mail.

Mourinho is said to be ‘furious’ with the duo and was so angry after the game that he falied to address his players in the dressing room.