Jose Mourinho has refused to “play games” by clarifying his comments on the mentality of some of his Manchester United players.
Quotes attributed to Mourinho from a Univision interview conducted in Spanish last month with Hristo Stoichkov were widely circulated on Friday morning.
Initial, inaccurate translations of the interview claimed Mourinho had questioned the “character” of Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard.
A revised translation, published by the Manchester Evening News, claimed Mourinho instead spoke about the “mentality” of the modern player.
The United manager is understood to have said that the likes of Shaw, Martial, Rashford and Lingard lack a certain “aggression”, more commonly found in players of an older generation.
Mourinho was offered the opportunity to clarify his comments at his press conference on Friday, ahead of United’s meeting with Crystal Palace this weekend, but refused and instead claimed his words were taken out of context.
“I don’t play your game,” Mourinho said, when asked to expand the remarks.
“I don’t play the game of the take out of context and do what you want, I don’t play your game and I have nothing to say. I don’t lose my time playing that game,” he added.
