Luke Shaw has hit back at Jose Mourinho over his constant criticism of him.
Mourinho had a strained relationship with Shaw during the two-and-a-half years they spent together when the Portuguese was in charge at Old Trafford and has never been afraid to make critical comments about the England full back’s capabilities.
Last week, the Roma coach, who is working as a radio pundit during the European Championships described Shaw’s set-pieces as ‘dramatically bad’ during the 1-0 win over the Czech Republic.
Shaw has now hit back at his former coach, calling Mourinho ‘obsessed’ and told him to stop living in the past.
‘I don’t understand it,’ said Shaw, who had a wry smile when Mourinho’s comments came up.
‘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.’
‘He likes some players, he doesn’t like others,’ said Shaw, when asked about Mourinho’s management style.
‘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.’
Shaw, with another wry smile, added: ‘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.’
