Jose Mourinho isn’t happy with Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw.
The Manchester United manager, rather than focus on his team actually winning a game for a change, chose to publicly rebuke the pair following the 3-1 victory over Swansea on Sunday, after they declared themselves unfit for the match.
“Smalling doesn’t feel that he can play 100 per cent with his pain,” the United manager said after the game.
“Luke Shaw told me this morning that he was not in the condition to play so we had to build a defensive line.”
Mourinho accused the pair of betraying the “culture” of the club.
“To compete you have to go to the limit. It is cultural for some – and that is not my culture. More than me, it is Man United.”
Smalling hasn’t played for United since the 4-0 defeat to Chelsea, while Shaw is said to have felt pain in the leg he fractured in two places last year following the 2-1 loss to Fenerbahce last Thursday.
He declared himself unfit for the Swansea game, much to the dissatisfaction of Mourinho.
This being United, there have since been reports coming out of the club, and they don’t make good reading for the fortunes of Shaw and Smalling.
According to The Daily Mail, the pair are “fighting for their futures” at Old Trafford, and Mourinho followed up his public criticism with a similar message for the players in the dressing room.
Although both Shaw and Smalling are understood to have played this season while injured, taking painkilling injections in order to get through games, Mourinho criticised the pair for their apparent reluctance to play through the pain barrier.
Luke Shaw of leaves the field on a stretcher during the match between PSV Eindhoven and United.“There is a difference between the brave, who want to be there at any cost, and the ones for who a little pain can make a difference,” Mourinho told the press following the game.
“If I were to speak with the many great football people of this team, they will say many times they played without being 100 per cent. For the team you have to do anything. That is my way of seeing. We have players with problems.”
Luke Shaw, according to The Daily Telegraph, is said to be “baffled” by Mourinho’s criticism.
The report also claims that players are disillusioned by Mourinho’s demeanour, and were expecting a more “hands-on” approach in training and in the dressing room.
Mourinho’s methods resulted in his spells at Real Madrid and Chelsea, where he also accused players of not being prepared to go through the pain barrier, ending in acrimonious circumstances.
However, according to The Sun, the senior players at United are backing Mourinho in his stand-off with Smalling and Shaw, believing that his abrasive, ruthless methods will bring success.
The pair will reportedly have clear the air talks with Mourinho during the international break, as neither were called-up to the England squad due to injury, and reportedly face an uncertain future if the situation can’t be resolved.
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