Mourinho interview: Man Utd manager talks about his players

Mourinho interview: The Manchester United manager talked about Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw in an interview.

Manchester United are going through a rough phase at the moment. The side are 8th in the Premier League and lost the first Manchester derby of the season before the international break.

Pep Guardiola’s side emerged at top as they outclassed Manchester United 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Anthony Martial scored the sole goal for United, scoring in his fifth consecutive Premier League game.

Mourinho’s side is below Bournemouth and Watford in the league table. Interestingly, Manchester United defeated both the sides in the league earlier this season.

United’s young trio of Martial, Rashford, and Shaw have shown promises of becoming the mainstays at the club. While Martial and Shaw have been impressive for Mourinho’s side so far, Rashford has suffered with inconsistency. The United manager talked about the players in his interview with Univision.

Mourinho interview:

Jose Mourinho has never shied away from criticising his players, and the Manchester United manager highlighted the weaknesses of his youngsters in the interview.

Mourinho was asked what the young trio was lacking in their game, and the manager stated that the players lacked ‘maturity.’

“Maturity. When I say that, I mean maturity at a personal level,” Mourinho began. “We (talking to the interviewer) are more men, we are more mature, we were more prepared to face life.

“We were less protected. In England, they call it ‘spoilt’. Today, we’re talking about ‘spoilt kids’. Our children are more ‘spoilt’ than we were.”

Mourinho seemingly blamed the ‘entourage’ culture for slowing down the player’s mental growth.

“I think kids these days have a different social life than us, and players have around them an ‘entourage’, and I mean a personal entourage, the people that surround them, that protect them more, give them more affection, more excuses.

“They reach maturity more slowly.”

Mourinho then talked about the specific players.

“For example, this kid, Luke Shaw, who is currently the national team’s left-back, when I arrived here two years ago, he didn’t know how to compete. He had great potential, yes, but he didn’t know how to compete.

“When we talk about Luke Shaw, Martial, Lingard, Rashford, we’re talking about kids with great potential but still lack a word I can’t say but that you like a lot [cojones]… they lack a bit of that.”

What next?

Manchester United will take on Crystal Palace as they return to the Premier League this weekend, where Mourinho’s side will aim to secure three points and close the gap with the top-4.