“Why are you always picking on me?”
Luke Shaw reportedly confronted Jose Mourinho in a heated dressing room argument at half-time during Manchester United’s FA Cup victory over Brighton.
United beat the Seagulls 2-0 at Old Trafford on St Patrick’s Day to progress to the competition’s semi-finals, but much of the post-match discussion focused on Mourinho hauling Shaw off at half-time.
Now, according to an interesting report from the Daily Mail’s Chris Wheeler, Shaw challenged his manager when Mourinho informed the player he was being taken off.
Shaw reportedly asked the Portuguese coach, ‘why are you always picking on me?’ Mourinho’s response seemed perfectly legitimate, explaining that Shaw had not defended well enough during the first-half and that Brighton were being afforded too much freedom down his side of the pitch.
According to Wheeler, Shaw felt as though he was being singled out by his manager while it was not the first time the pair had an exchanging of opinions recently, with the report also claiming that the left-back raised concerns over his place in the squad after United’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace.
Following that, Mourinho left Shaw on the bench for the win over Liverpool before omitting the 22-year-old from the squad altogether for United’s Champions League defeat to Sevilla.
However, Mourinho seems willing to give Shaw as many opportunities as the other options at left-back, with the United boss on Friday saying that Shaw will be considered for selection if he is available.
“If he’s available Luke Shaw is always an option,” he said. “Ashley Young was available to play against Brighton, so I started with Luke Shaw, so that’s not a problem.”
