Ledley King has suggested that Jose Mourinho lacks trust in his Manchester United players in the wake of his comments following last weekend’s win at Swansea.
Mourinho appeared to question the willingness to play through the pain barrier of some of his players, with some claiming his comments were made about Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling.
On Friday, reports surfaced claiming that Smalling had been suffering with a broken toe, playing with the injury during the defeat to Chelsea.
Speaking on the latest episode of JOE’s Football Friday Live – which can be seen at the bottom of this page – King explained that he wasn’t surprised to hear of Smalling’s injury.
“He strikes me as the kind of person who’d try and get out on the pitch even if he is hurt,” the former England defender said. “I’m not surprised to hear he’s got a broken toe.”
When later asked how he would have felt if in Smalling’s position, King made it clear that he wasn’t impressed by Mourinho’s approach:
“There’s no trust from the manager, doubting his players. He’s almost calling them liars and saying that he doesn’t want to put his body on the line for the team.
“It’s just not a good look and I don’t know if there’s an ulterior motive to what he’s doing.”
King also shared the story of the time Harry Redknapp persuaded him to play against Liverpool at Anfield, despite travelling to Merseyside having missed months of football and intending to watch the match. Have a watch below.
Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live:
