A lot has been made of the comments made from Mourinho which seemed to be directed at the defender.
Watford’s Daryl Janmaat in action with Manchester United’s Luke Shaw
Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw suffered a recurrence of a groin injury in the second half of Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Watford, according to a report in The Times.
Shaw appeared to be on the end of criticism from manager Jose Mourinho – with the comments from the United boss dominating many of the back pages – where he appeared to criticise the role of the defender in the build-up to Juan Camilo Zuniga’s goal where he didn’t close down Nordin Amrabat.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
Mourinho was quoted in the Daily Mirror, among other papers, telling reporters: “Here for the second goal, Amrabat receives the ball and our left-back is 25 metres from him instead of five metres. But even at 25 metres, you have to jump and go and press, but no, we wait.
“This is a tactical but also a mental attitude. It’s something that doesn’t become perfect in a couple of weeks.”
The article in The Times goes on to say that members of the United squad were shocked at the treatment of the player – who was substituted shortly after Watford’s second goal.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho before the match
Clearly the defeat – United’s third in a row in all competitions – is a blow for the team, and the manager personally while stories from the dressing room are hardly going to please Mourinho. He will be keen to get back to competitive action as soon as possible and trying to get the side back to winning ways at what is still an early stage of the season.
A good run of form from here on could put stories like this firmly in the distance. Before the international break, United have a League Cup tie at Northampton Town before three consecutive home games; with Premier League clashes against Leicester City and Stoke City, with a Europa League clash with Zorya Luhansk sandwiched in between.
However, if this is the start of a longer run, it will be interesting to see just to see the type of stories that emerge from Old Trafford. This particular one could also be interpreted as Mourinho strongly putting the case forward as to what he wants to see from his side, but it was unfortunate that in this case the player in the firing line wasn’t 100% fit.
Watford’s Daryl Janmaat in action with Manchester United’s Luke Shaw
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