Jose Mourinho slammed for his reaction to Marcus Rashford’s miss against Young Boys
JOSE MOURINHO came under fire for his reaction to Marcus Rashford’s first-half miss at Old Trafford.
The Special One turned to the home fans, crossed his arms and shrugged his head after the England international chipped his effort over the bar.
And BT Sport pundits Gary Lineker and Rio Ferdinand were among those not impressed with Mourinho’s antics.
Ex-United defender Ferdinand said: “Rashford has been at the centre of all good things but the end product hasn’t been what we expect.
“Rashford is obviously going to see that (reaction) after the game. What type of confidence or message does that send to him? That’s the problem.”
Gary Lineker added: “As a centre-forward If I saw my manager react like that I would be absolutely livid.”
Handed a start by the Portuguese gaffer for the Champions League clash against Young Boys, Rashford found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Jesse Lingard diverted Luke Shaw’s long ball into the path of the 21-year-old, who looked set to open the scoring in the fifth minute.
And with fans – and his boss – expecting the net to ripple, Rashford fired his effort over the bar as goalkeeper David von Ballmoos charged out of his area.
Paul Scholes then commented: “You would expect him to score but it’s the finish of a player not brimming with confidence.
“They’ve been a little bit anxious and that comes from a lack of confidence.”
It’s been a frustrating season for Rashford, who has netted just twice in 14 games in all competitions this season.
But he was handed an opportunity to show Mourinho why he deserves a starting spot in his side as he edged out Romelu Lukaku.
The ex-Chelsea boss backed his inclusion in the starting XI when speaking before the clash against the Swiss outfit.
He said: “You are always asking for Marcus Rashford to play, so you cannot complain.
“You are asking for Fred to play, so you cannot complain that they are playing.
“We have fresh blood, fresh legs, people playing that did not play the last match two days ago.
“To play after two days is hard but with Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial as our forwards, all of them are young, fast and supposedly fresh.”
