Jose Mourinho has been slammed by PFA chief Gordon Taylor over his comments on Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling
According to Goal, Manchester United manager had been criticised over his treatment of defensive duo Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling after the Reds’ 3-1 victory over Swansea on Sunday. The pair missed the game against the Welsh side, with Mourinho publicly stating that they were unwilling to play due an injury.
However, Taylor seems unimpressed by these harsh words Mourinho resorted to and has warned the Portuguese that such instances could result in dire consequences – akin to the suicide of former Wales head-coach Gary Speed. He said:
“I was disappointed by that because, knowing the individuals, they are both highly thought of.
“They’ve got personal problems which I don’t need to relay, but sometimes a manager needs to be a psychologist as well, and also to be a counselor because you can’t treat everybody in the team [the same], every manager must know that. Every player in a team is different.
“When you see what happened with Welsh football and Gary Speed, that brings it home to you that somebody can look on top of the world, with no problems, but [in reality] it’s quite different and that’s why we have a 24-hour counseling service.”
After a disastrous week that saw United draw 0-0 at home followed by a shock Europa League defeat against Feyenoord, the pressure was piling on Mourinho to pick up maximum points at the Liberty Stadium. Reports suggest that he had picked Shaw and Smalling as a part of his eleven for the game, but had to alter his team with them pulling out due to injuries.
This decision saw Phil Jones make the starting eleven for the first time this season after recuperating from an injury, and did a decent job in keeping the Swansea attackers at bay for most parts of the game.
At left-back, Matteo Darmian put in arguably his best performance of the season as he ran to and pro with ease, supplementing the side in both thirds of the field. He also formed a good understanding with Rooney down the left and could be given a greater look-in given Shaw’s injury and a the signs of a falling out with the manager.
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