Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s man-management skills are under scrutiny after he appeared to publicly accuse defenders Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling of malingering.
While not mentioning either player by name, Mourinho expressed unhappiness after the pair missed United’s 3-1 win at Swansea City on Sunday, suggesting they had shown a lack of bravery.
Some British newspapers reported on Tuesday that Shaw and Smalling were now “fighting for their futures” at Old Trafford.
Left-back Shaw, 21, was said to be “baffled” over his treatment by Mourinho, who succeeded Louis van Gaal as United manager in May.
The England international recently spent 11 months on the sidelines after sustaining a horrific double leg fracture in a Champions League game at PSV Eindhoven in September last year.
He has been in and out of the team since making his first-team comeback in August and is reported to have felt pain in the leg he broke during last Thursday’s Europa League defeat at Fenerbahce.
Mourinho said Shaw had informed him he was unable to play against Swansea on the morning of the game.
But the former Southampton player is not thought to have travelled down to south Wales with the rest of the squad on the eve of the match.
Mourinho also singled Shaw out for criticism following United’s 3-1 defeat at Watford in September, after which it emerged the full-back had been playing with a groin problem.
“Our left-back is 25 metres’ distance from him, instead of five,” Mourinho said after Shaw failed to close down Nordin Amrabat in the build-up to Watford’s second goal.
Smalling, 26, has tended to start for Mourinho when fit, but the Portuguese appears to have lost patience with the England centre-back, who has missed four games with a foot injury.
Both Shaw and Smalling are thought to have played with pain-killing injections already this season and interim England manager Gareth Southgate has defended them against accusations they lack heart.
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