Moaning minnie: has José Mourinho actually got anything to complain about? | Paul Wilson


Manchester United’s manager has spent the season mixing traditional gripes with inventive new ones but the whining should be coming from his players

The whining noise coming from the direction of Old Trafford has become steadily more audible in recent weeks, with José Mourinho mixing traditional gripes about exhaustion and fixture overload with some inventive new ones that would not occur to many other managers, such as complaining that his injured players seem to lack the will or competitive drive to return more quickly.

By rights it should be a member of Manchester United’s much put-upon back line doing all the moaning. Luke Shaw has been treated with something between mistrust and outright dissatisfaction all season, and could not get any sympathy from his manager even when ligament damage forced him off the field against Swansea.

Related: Mourinho defends rotation: ‘We’re not telling Arsenal to beat us 6-0. We’ll fight’

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