José Mourinho’s criticism of Luke Shaw was justified but at what cost? | Paul MacInnes

Sep 23, 2016

Managers must accept that modern footballers are delicate commodities but they are also valuable and public humiliations could prove expensive

We’re all human resources executives now. Or perhaps it’s just felt that way this week as the argument over whether José Mourinho was right to criticise Luke Shaw in public ran on longer than your average employment tribunal.

The young defender was singled out following Manchester United’s insipid 3-1 defeat to Watford last weekend. He was not the first individual to be treated in such a way by his manager this season: Eric Bailly, Daley Blind and Jesse Lingard have already felt the edge of Mourinho’s tongue. But the Portuguese was certainly unsparing. “Our left-back is 25 metres away instead of five,” he said of Shaw’s involvement in Watford’s crucial second goal. “Give him 25 metres and you have to press. But no, we wait. It is a tactical but also mental attitude.”

Tags: Football José Mourinho Sport