“Martial is not a player very, very focused on his defensive duties. To play him as a second striker and trying just to cover the area of [Declan] Rice would be much easier for him.

“At the same time, I feel that we need quality on the ball building up from the back and Scott McTominay has that quality. Everything that left his foot was correct – a part of a special character; a special personality that the team in a negative moment needs. A team in a negative moment needs the kind of mentality Scott McTominay has.”

Mourinho was asked whether enough of his other players had that mentality. “Not all of them,” he replied. “But every player is a different person. Scott McTominay is a kid with a special character.”