Shaw, Martial, Lingard, Rashford lack character and maturity, says Jose Mourinho

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho isn’t new to criticising his own players in public and as everyone’s attention returns to the Premier League after the international break, the Portuguese finds himself in yet another controversy.

In an interview with Spanish news channel Univision, Mourinho said that some of players are maturing more slowly because of their professional upbringing, reported the Manchester Evening News.

The interview was conducted on October 31 in Spanish but the English translations were released by the British media only recently. Per the Manchester Evening News, Mourinho accused four of his players – Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford – of lacking character and maturity.

“They are lacking maturity,” Mourinho was quoted as saying. “...when I say maturity I mean on a personal level. We were more like men. We were more mature. We were more prepared for life. We were less protected.”

He added, “In English they call it ‘spoilt’, ‘spoilt kids’. Our kids are more spoilt than we were by our parents. We are more mature, we are better prepared. For young people now, it’s a different life on a social level compared to ours.”

Mourinho added that the people who surround the players “protect them too much” and give them “too much care, too many excuses”.

“People are maturing more slowly,” he said. “For example, the young lad Luke Shaw, who is the left-back of the national team, who arrived there [at United] two years before me. 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, [Anthony] Martial, [Jesse] Lingard, Marcus Rashford, we’re talking about young lads but who also are still missing a word that I can’t use but you like to use. They are missing a bit of that,” he added.

Earlier this month, Manchester United beat Bournemouth and Juventus both 2-1 away, before losing to Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium. United will host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday after the international break.