Jose Mourinho: Manchester United stars backing boss over incredible bust-up with Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling
The Special One tore into his stars for telling him they were not fit to play in Sunday's win at Swansea
MANCHESTER UNITED’S stars are BACKING Jose Mourinho over his amazing bust-up with Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling.
Senior players have accepted that the only way to succeed under the Special One is to accept his ruthless regime.
Incredibly, they supported his public attack on Shaw and Smalling, who insisted they were not fit to play in Sunday’s 3-1 win at Swansea.
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Both have played with pain-killing injections this season but boss Mourinho claims that is common practice for a top-level footballer.
Left-back Shaw, 21, and centre-half Smalling, 26, now face a battle to save their United careers after Mourinho questioned their attitude and commitment in an extraordinary post-match outburst.
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The Special One said they refused to be in the match-day squad and had betrayed United’s “culture”.
He is still furious over their behaviour and the pair face a spell on the sidelines while he considers their futures.
Both were omitted from Gareth Southgate’s England squad to face Scotland on Friday and then Spain in a prestige friendly on Tuesday.
Shaw only returned to the United side at the start of the season after fracturing his leg last year.
And interim boss Southgate said: “There are physical and psychological aspects to getting an injured player back fit.
“There are different approaches towards that because sometimes you might need a nudge to say, ‘Come on, you can’.
“But I can’t comment on the two guys as I don’t know the specifics of exactly where they’re at.”