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London - Jose Mourinho is reportedly investigating the entire first-team culture at Manchester United after finding it sub-standard since his arrival.
Mourinho had hoped to challenge for the Premier League title when he succeeded Louis van Gaal during the summer, but United are eight points off the summit after just two wins from their last eight top flight outings.
The BBC claim that Mourinho has found several aspects of the club below his expectations, including travel, the medical department, sports science and fitness of his squad, and is looking at ways to address them.
The ex-Chelsea boss publicly singled out defenders Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling ahead of last weekend’s win at Swansea after criticising their absence from the squad and inability to play through the pain.
However, England manager Gareth Southgate subsequently confirmed that the pair are both struggling with legitimate injuries and will miss the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
PFA chairperson Gordon Taylor has also criticised Mourinho for his comments towards Shaw and Smalling.
“I was disappointed by that (Mourinho’s comments) because, knowing the individuals, they are both highly thought of,” said Taylor.
“They’ve got personal problems which I don’t need to relay, but sometimes a manager needs to be a psychologist as well, and also to be a counsellor because you can’t treat everybody in the team [the same] every manager must know that. Every player in a team is different.”
