Paul Pogba, Alexis Sánchez, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera are all under threat of being dropped for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham after Jose Mourinho promised to wield the axe in the wake of Manchester United’s abject showing against West Bromwich Albion.

Mourinho reacted to Sunday’s dismal 1-0 defeat by the Premier League’s bottom club, which handed the title to rivals Manchester City with five games to spare, by admitting the performances of some players had already persuaded him not to start them at Wembley this weekend.

Those who did not start or feature against West Brom are likely to be given the opportunity to stake their claim for a starting place against Spurs in Wednesday night’s league match at Bournemouth as Mourinho demands a reaction.

But the United manager – who had torn into his players at half-time – was adamant that others had blown their chances of starting the semi-final after reacting furiously to what he witnessed against Darren Moore’s struggling side.

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