Andy Walker believes Jose Mourinho is trying to “force Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw out of Manchester United” following the manager’s comments after his sides 3-1 victory at Swansea City on Sunday.
The TV pundit, speaking on Sky Sports News HQ, believes the ‘Special One’ is fed up of the defenders refusing to play through the pain barrier and is edging them towards the Old Trafford exit.
Walker said, “Look at the players he’s used to working with. John Terry, [Frank] Lampard, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, you can tell these guys are playing through the pain barriers.
Centre-half, Smalling – Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
“I think what it does tell you is he cannot trust Luke Shaw, he cannot trust Chris Smalling. When a big game comes along they won’t be considered, because he’s clearly trying to get them out of the club I think.
“Nobody is advocating that you have a hamstring injury and try to play through it. But the mentality to play with a knock or play with something uncomfortable, how many times has John Terry played through that under Mourinho?”
As well as the defensive duo, summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan was absent from their weekend triumph at the Liberty Stadium, with Mourinho telling the media that left-back Shaw had told him that morning that he was unable to play.
The 53-year-old told MUTV before Sunday’s Premier League clash, “Smalling doesn’t feel that he can play 100 per cent with his pain.
“Luke Shaw told me this morning that he was not in the condition to play so we had to build a defensive line.”
