Luke Shaw launched a scathing criticism of former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and his “strange” personal agenda, with the Red Devils and England full-back insisting “clearly I’m in his head”.
Mourinho managed Shaw at United from 2016 until he was sacked in 2018 and the Portuguese boss was often critical of the England international publicly in Manchester.
Shaw has since flourished under the guidance of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United, but Mourinho – now in charge of Serie A side Roma following his Tottenham sacking – took aim at the Englishman’s poor corner-taking for England at Euro 2020.
After England’s win over the Czech Republic, Mourinho told talkSPORT: “The negative thing I would say is once more they were very poor on attacking corners.
“The service was dramatically bad. They have so many good players to attack corners. The crosses are not passing the first man.
“Luke Shaw, in my opinion, very good tonight but very poor on the corner. [Kalvin] Phillips, the same. England has great power at this level and going to knockouts, one corner can decide a game.”Related Articles
Responding to Mourinho’s latest barb, Shaw – back in the national team following his return to form at club level – said: “I don’t understand it. I don’t know why he is still going on and wanting to point at me.
“I don’t feel like the set-pieces were as bad as he was saying. I might have done one in the second half, a corner, that didn’t get over the first man. But that was one out of three. The other two or three, I don’t think, were as ‘dramatically bad’ as he says.
“Look, he has got to do his job. I’m used to him saying negative stuff about me, so I just pass it by.
“His voice is obviously very big. He likes to talk a lot about me, as everyone has seen recently. But his voice is his own. He can say what he wants, I will focus on myself. I take set-pieces at United, so it wasn’t as if it was something I wasn’t ready for.”
Shaw – gearing up for the Euro 2020 last-16 showdown against Germany – added: “He likes some players, he doesn’t like others. I fell into the category where he didn’t like me.
“I tried as hard as I could to get back into his side but it never worked out, no matter what I did. There is no hiding that we didn’t get on.
“I think he was a brilliant manager but, you know, the past is the past. It’s time to move on. I’m trying to move on but obviously he can’t. He continuously talks about me, which I find quite strange. Even some of the lads [here] have said ‘what’s his problem?’ and ‘why does he keep talking?’
“Hopefully, he can find his peace with that and stop worrying about me. Clearly, I’m in his head a lot and he thinks about me a lot. I don’t think any of you realise the two or three years I had with him and how bad [the criticism] was then. What he says now is nothing compared to how it used to be.
“I find it easy to ignore him now and even laugh about it. But it’s better just to ignore it. I knew if time came into it, I would be able to outlast him and I have. I can now just focus on getting better and improving.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s clash, England have never won a European Championship knockout match in 90 minutes (D4 L2) – four games have gone to penalties, with the Three Lions only progressing once via this method, against Spain at EURO 1996.
Shaw – gearing up for the Euro 2020 last-16 showdown against Germany – added: “He likes some players, he doesn’t like others. I fell into the category where he didn’t like me.
“I tried as hard as I could to get back into his side but it never worked out, no matter what I did. There is no hiding that we didn’t get on.
“I think he was a brilliant manager but, you know, the past is the past. It’s time to move on. I’m trying to move on but obviously he can’t. He continuously talks about me, which I find quite strange. Even some of the lads [here] have said ‘what’s his problem?’ and ‘why does he keep talking?’
“Hopefully, he can find his peace with that and stop worrying about me. Clearly, I’m in his head a lot and he thinks about me a lot. I don’t think any of you realise the two or three years I had with him and how bad [the criticism] was then. What he says now is nothing compared to how it used to be.
“I find it easy to ignore him now and even laugh about it. But it’s better just to ignore it. I knew if time came into it, I would be able to outlast him and I have. I can now just focus on getting better and improving.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s clash, England have never won a European Championship knockout match in 90 minutes (D4 L2) – four games have gone to penalties, with the Three Lions only progressing once via this method, against Spain at EURO 1996.
England’s last four victories have all been by a 1-0 score, as many as their previous 26 wins had been. The only previous year they have had five 1-0 wins was in 1990, with two of those wins coming at the 1990 World Cup when they reached the semi-final.
Source: livescore
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