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Mourinho vs Man Utd: The players in his own squad publicly criticised by the manager

  /  autty

Opposition players and managers, Manchester United's supposedly thrifty hierarchy, pre-season tour organisers, Premier League fixture schedulers, his own players... few escape the scathing criticism of Jose Mourinho at the moment.

The United boss certainly hasn't held back his opinions in recent weeks, the club's tour of the United States becoming one long hairdryer blast of Mourinho's latest gripes.

He appears at loggerheads with United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward over transfer policy and an apparent tightening of the purse strings when squad reinforcements are urgently needed.

The decision to bring forward the transfer deadline day in the English top-flight to August 9 hasn't exactly helped matters on this front.

Mourinho also seems unhappy with the length of United's pre-season tour, the distances that have to be travelled and the fact they are taking on the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid with a shoestring squad because of the World Cup.

A mounting injury list, particularly in defence, hasn't exactly helped his foul mood with the start of the Premier League season against Leicester City looming next Friday.

But it's his continued insistence on public criticism of his own players that threatens to drive a wedge between him and those out on the pitch.

Back in March, after United had laboured to a 2-0 win over Brighton in the FA Cup, Mourinho let rip at his under-performing players - and not for the first time in a turbulent and ultimately trophyless season.

'My calculation is without pressure, they don't perform well,' was Mourinho's justification of his verbal flak. 'What can I lose?'

Well, Mourinho stands to lose quite a lot if he continues to damage his players' confidence in such a way during what promises to be a tricky third season at Old Trafford.

Here's some of the players Mourinho has openly criticised during his time at United.

Mourinho vs Antonio Valencia

One of the newest targets for Mourinho's criticism is right-back Antonio Valencia, who apparently returned to pre-season training some way short of match fitness.

'Antonio Valencia comes from holiday - I think too much holiday for him. His condition was not good when he was back, then injury,' said Mourinho after Valencia suffered a calf injury in the 4-1 loss to Liverpool.

Valencia has flown back and faces a race against time in order to be fit for the start of the Premier League season, presenting Mourinho with another defensive headache.

Mourinho vs Anthony Martial

Striker Anthony Martial didn't even feature in the shambolic loss to Liverpool in Michigan, having flown home to be with his girlfriend Melanie Da Cruz as she gave birth to their son, Swan, last week.

Last week, Mourinho offered Martial his support, saying: 'When a man is going to be a father - in this case, it's the second time he is going to be a father - and he decides it very important for him to go, nobody has the right to stop him to go.'

But he changed his tune in the wake of the Liverpool match, claiming that Martial should have flown straight back.

He said: 'Anthony Martial has the baby and after the baby is born - beautiful baby, full of health, thank God - he should be here and he is not here.'

It's not the first time Mourinho has had a pop at the French striker. Towards the end of his first season in charge of United, Mourinho told Martial to be more like his team-mate Marcus Rashford.

'Do I think Anthony is a player with great ability? Yes. Do I think he can play successfully for me? Yes. But he needs to give me things that I like,' he said.

'That's why Marcus Rashford even without scoring goals, and not in the Premier League since September, he was always a player that I trust and I play and support because he was always coming in my direction and what I want from a Manchester United player.'

Mourinho vs Chris Smalling/Phil Jones

Amid another injury crisis at the end of the 2016-17 campaign, Mourinho was critical of defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones ahead of a crucial derby match against Manchester City.

With Marcos Rojo also sidelined at the time, United were stretched at the back and Mourinho accused the two English players of being 'cautious' in their recoveries from knee and foot injuries respectively.

'It's about the philosophy and mentality around them. Cautious. Cautious. Cautious. Just a cautious approach,' he said.

'It's a profile, it's the philosophy of work. Just that.'

Mourinho vs Luke Shaw

The most brutal of Mourinho's criticism has been reserved for left-back Luke Shaw, whose slow reintegration into the team following serious injury probably hasn't been helped by regular verbal blasts from his manager.

It started early in Mourinho's first season following an error of judgement in a loss at Watford and was followed by criticism of Shaw's bravery after he missed a match at Swansea.

'Luke Shaw told me this morning that he was not in the condition to play so we had to build a defensive line,' Mourinho said.

'There is a difference between the brave, who want to be there at any cost, and the ones for whom a little pain can make a difference.'

Another blast came later in the season after Shaw had fallen down the pecking order.

Ahead of United's Europa League tie with Saint-Etienne, Mourinho said: 'Luke has to wait for his chance and work better knowing that I give nothing for free.

'In this moment he is behind the others. Potentially he has many things that I like, but potential is one thing and another is on the pitch to express all the qualities that I like a player to express.'

Criticism along similar lines followed a few weeks later: 'It's difficult for Shaw to be on the bench because I cannot compare him with Ashley Young, with [Mattwo] Darmian, with [Daley] Blind.

'I cannot compare ther way he trains, the way he commits, the focus, the ambitions. I cannot compare. He is a long way behind.'

Worse was to come after Shaw came off the bench in a game at Old Trafford against Everton, playing on the side where Mourinho was stood in his technical area.

'He had a good performance but it was his body with my brain. He was in front of me and I was making every decision for him.'

Things seemed to improve and there was even some praise in the first part of this year, but normal service was quickly resumed following Shaw's iffy performance in the Brighton game, when he was taken off.

'Luke, in the first half, every time they went in the corridor, the cross was coming, the situation was coming so I was not happy with the performance.'

Mourinho vs Henrikh Mkhitaryan

After dropping the Armenian during the first-half of last season, Mourinho paved the way for Mkhitaryan to be sold to Arsenal during the January transfer window with some withering criticism.

'I was not happy with his last performances. I’m not speaking about one or two, I’m speaking about three, four or five,' the Portuguese blasted.

'He started the season very well and after that, step by step, he was disappearing. His performance levels in terms of goalscoring and assists, pressing, recovering the ball high up the pitch, bringing the team with him as a No 10, were decreasing.'

Mourinho vs Paul Pogba

One of the criticisms most frequently levelled at Mourinho is that he has failed to get the best out of £89million midfield Paul Pogba.

This scrutiny is now more intense than ever after Pogba excelled in helping France to the World Cup over the summer.

Mourinho has had cause to critcise Pogba in the past, notably following the miserable 1-0 home defeat to West Brom at the tail end of last season that confirmed Manchester City as title winners.

After taking Pogba off in the second-half, Mourinho said: 'Paul's game was complicated, like many others. Always one more touch, always one more turn' as part of a wider diatribe about his team being 'masters of complication.'

Mourinho vs Marcus Rashford

The young striker was the latest to attract Mourinho's ire after United lost 1-0 at Brighton towards the end of last season.

Mourinho was visibly unhappy on the sidelines as Rashford squandered some good opportunities and used it as justification for starting Romelu Lukaku up front for the majority of the season.

'Why always Lukaku? Not you have your answer to 'Why always Lukaku?' We are not as good individually as people think we are.

'The players who replaced others didn't perform at a good level and when individuals don't perform at a good level it's difficult for the team to play at a good level.

'And now maybe you understand why some players play more than others and you won't ask me all the time why A, B and C don't play more.'