José Mourinho labels four Manchester United players 'spoilt kids' | OneFootball

Manchester United boss José Mourinho has launched a stinging attack on four of his own players.

Mourinho has never been shy about making his feelings known about his players but his latest outburst is pretty astonishing, even by his standards.

When asked about the younger members of his squad at Old Trafford, the Portuguese told Spanish TV channel Univision: “They are lacking maturity.

“And let me be clear when I say maturity, I mean maturity on a personal level.”

Like many men of his age, the 55-year-old seems to be of the opinion that football was better in the good old days.

“We are more men, we are more mature, we were more prepared to face life. We were less protected,” he continued.

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

“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.”

And if you thought maybe he was just making a general point about the modern game, the Red Devils gaffer was only too happy to offer a few examples of the kind of man-children he’s referring to.

“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 said.

“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 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.”

Writing on Twitter, Gary Lineker labelled Mourinho’s comments a “disgrace”.

United host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday and there might be a rather awkward atmosphere in Old Trafford’s home dressing room.