Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho admits he is unsure what his best back four is after a tough start to the Premier League season.
Mourinho is under fire after United suffered a second loss in three league games with their 3-0 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford on Monday.
The Portuguese tactician is yet to start the same defence in any two games this campaign, with only left-back Luke Shaw starting all three matches and midfielder Ander Herrera used at centre-back against Spurs.
Asked if he knew what his best defence was, Mourinho accepted he was unsure.
“Why not? Because in the first game [it was Victor] Lindelof and [Eric] Bailly,” he said.
“Today played [Phil] Jones and [Chris] Smalling, but now Jones is injured, and next match it will be Smalling, with another one.
“When Marcos Rojo comes he will be an option, and no, I don’t know my best back four.”
United will look to bounce back when they visit Burnley on Sunday.
Despite their recent woes and the six alterations Mourinho made to his starting XI, United looked surprisingly fluid early on – Fred shooting just wide with their first chance inside 13 seconds.
Spurs had an even luckier escape 13 minutes later, as Romelu Lukaku intercepted Danny Rose’s woeful back-pass, beat Hugo Lloris and then shot wide from a tight angle with his weaker right foot.
Lukaku and Fred continued to look like the hosts’ most potent weapons, but at the back they were susceptible and Lucas arguably should have been given a penalty when Phil Jones clumsily tripped him just prior to the half-hour mark.
Spurs should have made it worse for United, but De Gea bailed out Victor Lindelof by denying Dele Alli after a poor back-pass, before Kane headed the resulting corner just wide.
United never looked like clawing it back and Lucas finished them off at the end, riding a challenge on the edge of the box before confidently beating De Gea.9