It may only may be preseason, but it appears Jose Mourinho is already in mid-season form when it comes to throwing his own players under the bus. The Manchester United manager, in speaking to the club’s web channel, said that Anthony Martial should now be back in the United States, rejoining his team on their preseason tour.
Mourinho also claimed his team captain, right back Antonio Valencia, showed up to training camp out shape.
First we’ll discuss Martial, the young forward who wants out of United. He flew home to France to be with his girlfriend for the birth of their baby son.
“He has the baby and after the baby is born, beautiful baby, full of health, thank god,” Mourinho told MUTV.
“He should be here and he is not here. Now we have Real Madrid and after that we have Bayern Munich, and that is our start.”
While yes, Martial needs to earn his paycheck, and fulfill his duties to his team, it wasn’t right for Mourinho to air that grievance in public. Especially when discussing a player who he’s reported to have a fractured relationship with, and who also wants away from the club.
As for Valencia, who suffered a calf injury this preseason and has now left the tour to return home, Mourinho says he enjoyed his summer holiday too much.
“Antonio Valencia comes from holiday, I think too much holiday for him. His condition was not good when he was back,” said Mourinho.
It appears that Mourinho is starting to show signs of his notorious “third season syndrome” this preseason. Clearly, the number of injuries starting to accumulate plus the high number of key players still missing due to their post World Cup holidays, is causing him much angst, and it’s now boiling over.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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