Mourinho claimed several players who appeared in Sunday's defeat 'don't have a place' in his team for Saturday's semi against Tottenham

Jose Mourinho warned he will be ruthless after Sunday's surprise defeat 

 Jose Mourinho is prepared to leave senior Manchester United players out of next Saturday’s FA cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, having insisted he cannot select them based on “the price they cost” or their “beautiful face”.

United handed the Premier League title to rivals Manchester City on Sunday by suffering a shock home defeat to the top-flight’s bottom club West Bromwich Albion.

Jay Rodriguez’s 73rd-minute header punished Mourinho’s pedestrian side for failing to break down their well-organised visitors and earned West Bromwich their first win on the road in the league since August.

He went on and  described his players as “masters of complication” after their limp display, which came despite the United manager naming a strong starting line-up including Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba.

United return to Premier League action on Wednesday night on the south coast at Bournemouth, three days before their Cup semi-final against Tottenham at Wembley.

Mourinho was expected to ring the changes for the trip to the Vitality Stadium but when asked whether he would rotate, the United manager suggested some of those who played in Sunday’s defeat would appear again as they had now lost their place for this weekend’s semi-final.

“Rotating is not the right word,” he said. “If I play a player against Bournemouth and the player is phenomenal, he plays the semi-final. So is not rotating, because rotating looks like a player plays against Bournemouth to give a rest to somebody that is going to play against Spurs in the semi-final. 

“So the word is not rotation, it is an opportunity for people, for some people to play and to try to get a place in the team for Spurs. Some of the guys that played today don't have a place in that team, they don't have a place in that team.”

Mourinho made his remarks after yet another difficult afternoon for Pogba, United’s record signing. 

Eight days earlier, the midfielder had scored twice to inspire the comeback win at the Etihad but his performance on Sunday was more in-keeping with his recent struggles and he was substituted before the hour mark.

Mourinho, however, refused to single the midfielder out for criticism in his post-match press conference.

Paul was out because of the yellow card, because of in terms the way he played he was not worse than some of the others who were on the pitch for 90 minutes.”

The United manager still believes his side can put up a stronger title challenge and compete with City next season but he called for greater consistency and dedication from both the experienced members of his squad and his younger players.