Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has hit back at former boss Jose Mourinho after the Portuguese criticised his performance for England at the Euros.
Currently a football talk show host and pundit for the European Championships before taking up his role as the new Roma boss, Mourinho criticised the gameplay of the England left-back, saying he was “dramatically bad” at set pieces.
At England’s pre-match press conference, the United defender went in on his former manager, saying he was obsessed with talking about him.
‘I don’t understand it,’ Shaw said when asked about Mourinho’s comments. ‘I don’t know why he is still going on and wanting to point at me.
‘I don’t feel like the set-pieces were as bad as he was saying. I might have done one in the second half, a corner, that didn’t get over the first man. But that was one out of three. The other two or three, I don’t think, were as “dramatically bad” as he says.
‘Look, he has got to do his job. I’m used to him saying negative stuff about me, so I just pass it by. His voice is obviously very big. He likes to talk a lot about me, as everyone has seen recently. But his voice is his own. He can say what he wants, I will focus on myself. I take set-pieces at United, so it wasn’t as if it was something I wasn’t ready for.’
Shaw and Mourinho have had a rough relationship ever since the pair worked together at United. The former United boss was not one to shy away from calling out his players who he felt were not performing in the level he would have liked and Luke Shaw was one of such players.
‘He likes some players, he doesn’t like others,’ said Shaw, when asked about Mourinho’s management style.
‘I fell into the category where he didn’t like me. I tried as hard as I could to get back into his side but it never worked out, no matter what I did. There is no hiding that we didn’t get on.
‘I think he was a brilliant manager but, you know, the past is the past. It’s time to move on. I’m trying to move on but obviously he can’t. He continuously talks about me, which I find quite strange. Even some of the lads (here) have said “what’s his problem?” and “why does he keep talking?”
‘Hopefully, he can find his peace with that and stop worrying about me. Clearly, I’m in his head a lot and he thinks about me a lot. I don’t think any of you realise the two or three years I had with him and how bad (the criticism) was then. What he says now is nothing compared to how it used to be.’
‘I find it easy to ignore him now and even laugh about it. But it’s better just to ignore it. I knew if time came into it, I would be able to outlast him and I have. I can now just focus on getting better and improving.’
England face Germany on the 29th of June at Wembley in the round of 16 and would hope to defeat their opponents to secure a spot in the quarter finals.
Did Luke Shaw go out of line with calling out his former manager or did he do the right thing to speak up? Let us know in the comment section.
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