5 players thrown under the bus by Jose Mourinho | Premier League 2019-20

Jose Mourinho has been remarkably low-key when it’s come to controversial outbursts since he took over as the new Tottenham Hotspur boss in November, but that all appeared to change at the weekend following Spurs’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Burnley.

Mourinho issued a not-so-veiled outburst towards the club’s record signing Tanguy Ndombele after the game during an interview with Sky Sports, and now the question simply becomes about how the French midfielder will respond.

Of course, this was not the only time that the Portuguese boss has metaphorically thrown one of his players under the bus – it’s been a trademark of his style throughout his lengthy career. Here are 5 players thrown under the bus by Jose Mourinho – and how they responded.

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1. Joe Cole

Joe Cole recovered from Mourinho's criticism to become a key player for Chelsea

One of the earliest recipients of some tough love from Mourinho during the Portuguese’s first stint as Chelsea boss, attacking midfielder Joe Cole came under fire in bizarre fashion; he was heavily criticised in a post-match interview by his boss despite scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge early in the 2004-05 season.

Mourinho accused Cole of slacking in his defensive duties as soon as he’d scored his goal, stating that he needed 11 players to help to defend the Blues’ lead – and only had 10. The England international took the criticism to heart and responded in the best way possible – by knuckling down in all of his duties and becoming a regular for Chelsea in the process, helping them to 2 consecutive Premier League titles under the Portuguese boss.

Despite this, the attacker still found himself on the end of another tongue-lashing from Mourinho during his second season at Stamford Bridge; a 2-0 win over Birmingham was the perfect way to sign off a tremendous 2005, but the Portuguese still found time to hit out at Cole – who had apparently performed too many tricks and flicks during the game.

“One more match like that and he’s out” was the quote from Mourinho, who went onto add that Cole “has to play for the team and not for the public and himself”.

2. Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw often found himself under fire from Mourinho's barbs

Perhaps no other player came under fire from Mourinho during his time as Manchester United boss quite so much as young left-back Luke Shaw. Shaw had been signed from Southampton in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £30m – making him the world’s most expensive teenager – but injuries curtailed his early career at Old Trafford, meaning that by the time Mourinho arrived in the summer of 2016, he hadn’t quite established himself at the club.

Mourinho’s first season in charge of the Red Devils saw Shaw make just 19 appearances for the team – 11 in the Premier League – and a training ground bust-up reportedly saw the Portuguese criticise the former Southampton man’s work ethic. Mourinho later stated that he couldn’t compare the way Shaw trained with the training habits of his other players, as the left-back was so far behind.

Later he hit out at Shaw again; despite praising the youngster’s performance in a win over Everton as being good, this time Mourinho claimed that Shaw was playing “with his body and my brain”, stating that he was “making every decision for him” and that “he cannot play with my understanding of the game”.

The £30m signing never did truly embed himself into Mourinho’s first team at United, although since the departure of the Portuguese boss, his form has seen a massive upturn and he’s now a regular starter for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

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3. Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard had a love/hate relationship with Mourinho during his time at Chelsea

Eden Hazard’s Chelsea career will be remembered fondly by all fans of the Blues, but even the Belgian wizard found himself being heavily criticised by Mourinho during the 2013-14 season. To defend the Portuguese, in this instance he was only responding to some apparent criticism of his tactics from Hazard following the Blues’ Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid.

The Belgian hit out after Chelsea’s 1-3 second leg loss, claiming that the Blues would be better off operating as a counter-attacking unit, and naturally, Mourinho couldn’t let it lie. He claimed that the criticism from Hazard was hardly a surprise because the Belgian was not the type of player to sacrifice himself 100% for the team and his teammates.

The two went onto bury the hatchet in 2014-15 as Chelsea romped to a Premier League title victory, but then fell out in the 2015-16 season, with Mourinho claiming that he had a different idea to Hazard of what made an effective ‘number 10’, basically suggesting that the Belgian didn’t do enough work without the ball.

This time Hazard went on to have the last laugh; just weeks after the statement, Mourinho was fired by the Blues for the second time – while Hazard’s career continued to rise at Stamford Bridge, winning another Premier League title and ending with a mega-money move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2019.

4. Paul Pogba

Mourinho reportedly labelled Manchester United's Paul Pogba a 'virus'

French midfielder Paul Pogba had the ultimate love-hate relationship with Mourinho during the Portuguese’s time as Manchester United boss. The two seemed to fall out and then make up week after week, to the point that their saga became almost as dramatic as a storyline on Eastenders and threatened to overshadow everything else going on at Old Trafford.

Things started off brilliantly – with both player and manager expressing their excitement at working together when Pogba’s £89m move from Juventus went through – and throughout his first season at the club, Mourinho was right behind the midfielder, even when other sources were happy to criticise his performances.

However, things began to go sour when Pogba picked up a hamstring injury in the early part of the 2017-18 campaign – and flew to Miami to recover, rather than staying in Manchester. The season later saw the Frenchman hauled off early during defeats to Tottenham and Newcastle, and shortly after, he was dropped to the bench and was then stripped of his vice-captaincy.

By mid-2018, reports were claiming that the two were barely on speaking terms, and things reached an ugly conclusion in December 2018 when Mourinho reportedly labelled Pogba as a “virus” after United’s 2-2 draw with Southampton, stating that he didn’t respect his teammates or the club’s fans.

The Portuguese departed soon after, fired following a loss to Liverpool, but it doesn’t seem that Pogba will last much longer either; after a brief upturn in form following the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Frenchman has been injury-stricken and has reportedly been looking for a summer transfer.

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5. Tanguy Ndombele

Only time will tell how Tanguy Ndombele responds to Mourinho's criticism

The most recent victim of Mourinho’s tongue – and his first at Tottenham Hotspur – Tanguy Ndombele came under fire after Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Burnley, a game that saw the Portuguese manager haul the French midfielder off at half-time following a disappointing showing. When reporters later questioned if Mourinho’s tactics had led to his side being 1-0 down at half-time, he instead turned his range to the club’s record signing.

The Portuguese stated that Tottenham “didn’t have a midfield” during the first half of the game, and then defended youngster Oliver Skipp – who was also substituted – meaning only Ndombele was left in the firing line. He went onto state that the Frenchman needed to give more than he was currently giving, and that he wasn’t adapting to life in the Premier League well.

The outburst wasn’t the first time that Ndombele had been questioned by Mourinho; weeks earlier his fitness had come into question, but this time the Portuguese went further, suggesting that he couldn’t keep giving the Frenchman opportunities due to the overall importance of the team.

Spurs fans will be hoping that the £63m signing will be inspired by the criticism to up his performances – he’s clearly a massively talented player when he’s on form – but only time will tell how this story will end.