Not the first time Mourinho's publicly criticised his players
A year ago, Mourinho publicly criticised a then 21-year-old Luke Shaw, saying “I cannot compare the way he trains and commits, the focus, the ambition. He is a long way behind”. Things haven’t improved much, judging by the comments the Portuguese made after the substituting the England left-back at half-time in the FA Cup game against Brighton.
There have been subsequent reports of unhappiness in the dressing room at Old Trafford and a host of ex-pros – including United legend Gary Neville – have come out in support of Shaw, who will surely be on his way in the summer. It’s not the first time Mourinho has hung one of his own out to dry in the media, though, as these nine examples prove.
Ricardo Carvalho
Carvalho was one of Mourinho’s favourite players, having coached him to Champions League success at Porto before signing him for Chelsea and Real Madrid. He was an outstanding defender in his prime, and is still pretty good at 39 years old, playing with Shanghai SIPG – but things turned briefly sour between the pair while at Chelsea.
“Ricardo Carvalho seems to have problems understanding things; maybe he should have an IQ test,” the Blues boss suggested. “I am not happy to have heard about this through the papers. Ricardo has worked with me for four years and I do not understand these quotes, he probably needs to see a doctor.”
Joe Cole
Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea signed the Englishman in 2003, shortly after Roman Abramovich’s takeover of the club. Cole was just 22 years old and was being spoken of as a potential superstar when the Blues took him to west London as the replacement for Gianfranco Zola for just under £7m.
Although Cole showed promise going forward, Mourinho was unhappy with his player's defensive displays – disdain which has become a common refrain from the Portuguese about his attacking players. “He has a lot to learn,” said Mourinho. “I think he has two faces - one beautiful and one I don't like. He must keep one and change the other one. When he scored the goal the game finished for him. After that, I needed 11 players for my defensive organisation and I had just 10.”
Kevin De Bruyne
Of all the players Mourinho has clashed with, De Bruyne must be the one that causes most regret. The Belgian is enjoying a sensational season pulling the strings in the Manchester City midfield and is favourite for the 2018 PFA Player of the Year award.
De Bruyne has spoken of his contentment at City, having signed a new long-term deal earlier in the season. But, according to Mourinho, he wasn’t happy with the lack of playing time he was given under the Portuguese coach while at Chelsea.
“With De Bruyne, if you have a player knocking on your door and crying every day he wants to leave, you have to make a decision. At that time, Chelsea did well. But, if he was at Chelsea and not at Wolfsburg, he wouldn't have reached this level. It was like a wall, a block. He was not ready to compete. He was an upset kid, training very bad.”
Eden Hazard
Despite the Belgian enjoying two productive campaigns under Mourinho during the Portuguese’s second stint in West London, the pair clashed following an interview Hazard gave after being knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid in April 2014.
After Hazard explained to French media that Chelsea “were not set up to play football”, Mourinho, of course, hit back with all the subtlety one would expect. "It's normal because he's not the kind of player ready to sacrifice himself 100% for the team and for his mates," claimed Mourinho. "Eden is the kind of player who is not so mentally ready to look back at his left-back and live his life for him."
Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku was happy to rejoin his old boss last summer when he joined United from Everton for £75m, even though he got limited playing time under Mourinho at Chelsea – and the Portuguese wasn't shy of criticising the Belgian while the striker was on loan at Goodison in 2013.
"Romelu likes to speak. He's a young boy who likes to speak,” said Mourinho in response to one of Lukaku’s post-match interviews. “But the only thing he didn't say is why he went to Everton on loan. That's the only thing he never says. And my last contact with him was to tell him exactly that: 'Why do you never say why you are not here?'
“And that's what I'm telling him now: 'Tell the country why you left.' When you enjoy to speak, speak everything. Don't speak only half of it. Speak everything. It's a simple question: 'Why did you leave Chelsea?' Ask him."
Sulley Muntari
Mourinho has never been scared to make enemies of powerful institutions, but even he might have thought twice about potentially offending a quarter of the world in one go. He drew huge criticism from the Islamic community – just the 1.8 billion around the planet – when he suggested that Muntari's performance had been adversely affected by his fasting during Ramadan, one of the Five Pillars considered mandatory among the faithful.
Muntari, a surprise signing for Inter from Portsmouth for £12m in 2008, was substituted half an hour into a league game with Bari. “Muntari had some problems related to Ramadan; perhaps with this heat it's not good for him to be doing this [fasting],” Mourinho said afterwards. “Ramadan has not arrived at the ideal moment for a player to play a football match.” Muntari still played a significant role as Inter won the treble.
Pepe
Kepler Laveran Lima Ferreira was a colossus at the back for Real Madrid in his 10 seasons at the Bernabeu, winning three La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues. But when the Brazilian centre-back publicly defended World Cup-winning captain Iker Casillas after the Madrid legend was dropped by Mourinho, the Portuguese coach responded in typical manner.
"Pepe has a problem. And his name is Raphael Varane," said Mourinho in 2013, in reference to Madrid's emerging French defender. "That's the whole story. It isn't easy for a man aged 31 with a lot of experience behind him to be blown out of the water by a kid of 19. It's very simple. The problem is very simple. Pepe's life has changed."
Cristiano Ronaldo
Of all the players Mourinho has ever coached, you’d think Cristiano Ronaldo would be most immune from any form of criticism. Apparently not. Mourinho’s job at Real Madrid was tough – on the other side of the Clasico divide was a Pep Guardiola-coached Barcelona team hailed as one of the greatest ever, dominant at home and abroad. Mourinho was frustrated that Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer seemed to struggle to adhere to his gameplan.
“I had only one problem with him,” said Mourinho in 2013. “Very simple, very basic, which was when a coach criticises a player from a tactical viewpoint trying to improve what, in my view, could have been improved.”
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Louis van Gaal signed World Cup winner Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2015. The midfielder had won the lot at Bayern but, despite his vast experience at club and international level, he was immediately demoted to the U23 side when Mourinho replaced the Dutchman in 2016. If this was in the hope it would expedite his exit from Old Trafford, it didn't happen: Schweinsteiger hung on for a year before joining MLS side Chicago Fire on a free transfer in summer 2017.
On this occasion, however, Mourinho admitted regret at his handling of the situation. “He is in the category of players I feel sorry for something that I did to him,” said the Manchester United manager last year, hinting excitingly at the existence of both his own humility and a list of wronged folks for whom he intends to make amends. “I want to speak about him as a professional, as a human being. It was the last thing I told him before he left – I was not right with you once, I have to be right with you now.”
