Opposition View: Manchester United

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho expressed his delight at reaching the Emirates FA Cup semi-finals, but admits the performance was below-par against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

Goals in each half from Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic sealed a 2-0 win, but Mourinho believes there is still plenty of room for improvement going forward.

He told MUTV, "I am happy that we go to Wembley again.

“I am happy with the qualification to the semi-final, but I am not happy with the performance. I expected more, we worked for more. We need more personality. Personality has a big influence in the quality that you show.

"I think [Nemanja] Matic was by far the best player in the team. Clearly, the personality, the desire, no fear to play, no fear to make mistakes. The team didn’t play as well as we prepared. These players, they need to play with pressure and feel the pressure.

"I don’t expect the players to relax after a defeat. We played four important matches at home in the past couple of weeks, we beat Chelsea and Liverpool, we reached the semi-final, we lost against Sevilla which is a match that looks like it deletes everything good we did until now, but it was very important to win the match. Two knockouts at home would have been really negative for us so I am happy that we won."

The Portuguese offered further words of encouragement for young midfielder Scott McTominay, and believes the midfielder is adapting well to life in the first team.

“I have to say, for example, that Scott McTominay lost more passes than in all of the [other] matches he played together, but he was a Manchester United player and, for me, a Manchester United player is a player that when he plays badly, he gives to the team.

"That's a question of personality, that's a Manchester United player for me. The perfect Manchester United player for me is a player that has personality and quality, and is consistent on that. But when you play badly, and as a football player you can play badly, you must have the right personality.”