Rio Ferdinand has branded Jose Mourinho ‘bitter’ for continuing his public feud with Manchester United let-back Luke Shaw.
He struggled to win the faith of his former coach during Mourinho’s two-and-a-half year spell at Old Trafford but has rebuilt his career under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Shaw won United’s player of the season and has returned to the international fold where he has become an important member of Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions set-up.
The left-back is expected to start against Germany and Ferdinand is baffled by Mourinho’s constant criticisms of the player.
Mourinho questioned Shaw’s set-piece delivery against Czech Republic recently, describing his corners as ‘dramatically bad’ and Ferdinand believes the Portuguese manager’s comments do not paint him in a positive light.
He told his FIVE YouTube channel: ‘I don’t get it man. Jose Mourinho, look at who he is. The guy, the main man, I love Mourinho. He’s a manager I would have loved to play for. But leave the kid alone.
‘You messed up his career. He would argue Luke Shaw messed up his career. He has to take some responsibility (Luke Shaw) for this period as well, where he didn’t do well under Mourinho.
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‘But as a manager you have to take a bit of responsibility too in getting the best out of players, that’s your job, that’s your remit to get the best out the players at your disposal but he didn’t with Luke Shaw.
‘But leave the kid alone, you’re talking about him taking corners. Please, there’s more to talk about than Luke Shaw taking corners.
‘It feels a bit personal to me and it just goes back to me as a pundit now. One of the main things I said when I started this any type of appraisal, or breaking down a situation or a club, it can’t be personal.
‘I think Jose, you can tell there’s a bit of bitterness about it. Luke doing well doesn’t reflect well on Jose Mourinho. That’s the problem and where the bitterness probably stems from.’
