A lot is being made of Jose Mourinho's post-match comments regarding the fitness of Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling after Manchester United defeated Swansea away last weekend.
Mourinho was critical of both, as he revealed the two England internationals informed him on the morning of the match that they would not be fit to play, and we've been reading in British media about how Luke Shaw was upset by the comments since.
In fact, a rumour spread around twitter this evening that Shaw had handed in a transfer request:
Luke Shaw has handed in a transfer request at #MUFC. [Sport]
— MUnitedHome™ (@MUnitedHome) November 9, 2016
The rumour is completely baseless as Sport, a Catalan newspaper, did not say anything about Luke Shaw, but it shows how many people believe Shaw is at war with Mourinho.
Someone who doesn't buy that idea is Gary Neville, although he did admit that Luke Shaw needs to mature at Manchester United.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neville said he was surprised that Jose singled out Chris Smalling considering what he saw while playing with the defender, but said that the comments directed at Shaw were to let the players know that it was either them, or him.
And he's dead right.
He's now in the spotlight at a big club, and Manchester United doesn't take prisoners. Jose Mourinho's not going to take prisoners because it's going to be him or the players that are going to actually survive, and he doesn't work on the theory that it'll be the players, it will be him.
So I think from that point of view, he's looking to make his name at Manchester United and he has to make sure he has players alongside him that he wants, but my feeling around Luke is that obviously he's had injury problems, he's not over them from a mental point of view, and he needs to work on that.
Was it harsh to call out Luke Shaw considering the injury he suffered last season? Yes, but perhaps this was what he needed to prove to his manager that he does belong at a club like Manchester United.
We all saw the response when Louis Van Gaal essentially called him fat, he came back super-fit and looked the best player in the side at the start of last season.
The Manchester United players have had it too easy since Fergie left. Moyes and Van Gaal took all the stick for their failings, but Mourinho will not stand for that. If he feels someone needs a wake-up call, then he won't hesitate to pick up the phone.
