JOSE MOURINHO called four Manchester United stars “spoilt” during a scathing interview in 2018, which has re-emerged.
Mourinho, 61, was in charge of United from 2016 until his acrimonious departure two years later and he didn’t pull any punches when he looked back at his time at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho called four Manchester United stars ‘spoilt’Reuters
Marcus Rashford has landed himself on hot water after a 12-hour benderAFP
Jesse Lingard has been a free agent for eight months and heading to South KoreaEPA
Anthony Martial’s contract runs out in June and he is set to leaveReuters
Luke Shaw struggled to perform under Mourinho at Man UtdPA
The Special One singled out four of his former players during his brutal assessment, and those were Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard.
The Portuguese tactician, who is now a free agent after being sacked by Roma last month, spoke to Hristo Stoichkov about those players, three of which are still with the Red Devils after Lingard’s exit.
Mourinho said almost six years ago: “They are lacking maturity. When I say that, I mean maturity at a personal level.
“We are more men, we are more mature, we were more prepared to face life. We were less protected. In England, they call it ‘spoilt’.
“Today, we’re talking about ‘spoilt kids’. Our children are more ‘spoilt’ than we were.
“I think kids these days have a different social life than us, and players have around them an ‘entourage’, and I mean a personal entourage, the people that surround them, that protect them more, give them more affection, more excuses. They reach maturity more slowly.
“For example, this kid, Luke Shaw, who is currently the national team’s left-back, when I arrived here two years ago, he didn’t know how to compete. He had great potential, yes, but he didn’t know how to compete.
“When we talk about Luke Shaw, Martial, Lingard, Rashford, we’re talking about kids with great potential but still lack a word I can’t say but that you like a lot… they lack a bit of that.
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“Character, personality, as they say in Spain as well, bad blood, that natural aggression that you had.”
Lingard, 31, left United in 2022 and joined Nottingham Forest in a bid to revitalise his career, but that move proved to be short-lived as he left in June.
And after eight months as a free agent, the versatile midfielder looks set for a shock move to South Korean outfit FC Seoul.
The other three are not exactly flying high either as Rashford, 26, landed himself on hot water recently.
The England international was dropped for Sunday’s FA Cup win at Newport and fined two weeks’ wages of £650,000 after a 12-hour bender in Belfast last week.
The Red Devils’ manager Erik ten Hag insists the matter has been resolved internally and the forward returned to action on Thursday at Wolves where he started and scored during a dramatic 4-3 win.
Martial’s, 28, contract runs out in June and looks set to leave following a string of injuries.
Shaw, 28, on the other hand, looks to be going from strength to strength despite his own injury troubles as he has established himself as a vital member of Ten Hag’s defence.
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