Mourinho: criticism of United players is 'common sense'
Martial and Shaw have been among the players to incur Jose Mourinho's wrath in recent weeks. yet the Manchester United manager stands by his approach.Manchester United v. Manchester City live online
Jose Mourinho claims his stinging criticism of several Manchester United stars is common sense if they are not giving 100 percent.
Mourinho: "I don't care"
Mourinho has turned his guns on a number of players in his first season at Old Trafford, with England left-back Luke Shaw and French forward Anthony Martial suffering recent blasts from the United manager.
Yet, asked if that was a calculated risk, Mourinho said on Tuesday: "I don't care. I don't even think about it.
"I just try to be who I am. I just try to be honest and direct, and I don't think about the consequences.
"You give me everything you have, I thank you for that. You don't give me everything you have, I ask you for more. That is just common sense."
Rashford receives praise
Mourinho has been willing to praise those he believes are following his advice, with 19-year-old forward Marcus Rashford, scorer of three goals in United's last five games, a current favourite of the Portuguese coach.
"When you give everything you have, I cannot demand more from you, and Marcus, even not performing especially well, was giving absolutely everything.
"So I could never demand more from him. I could just support and say that better days will arrive, but I am always super happy with the approach from such a young and talented kid.
"Some other guys don't give everything they have, so that is the point -- they have to. And when they do it, I am happy with them. It doesn't matter the way they perform."
Zlatan sidelined for lengthy spell
United head into Thursday's contest with considerable injury problems, including what the club have described as "serious" knee ligament damage sustained last week by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, their 28-goal top scorer.
While Mourinho would not be drawn on the future of the 35-year-old Swedish striker, whose contract with United is due to expire at the end of the season, he did confirm Ibrahimovic had travelled to the United States for surgery.
"He is in America to have the surgery and start the recovering process, and that is the only thing that matters for us," he said.
United face neighbours Manchester City on Thursday. Find out how and where to watch the crucial Premier League match.