Luke Shaw Finally Opens Up On "Very Hard Time" Under Jose Mourinho At Manchester United

Luke Shaw has opened up about his relationship with former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho - admitting he had a "very difficult time."

Mourinho was never convinced by Shaw during his tenure and he singled out the full-back for criticism quite regularly.

The 25-year-old has managed to move on however and has become an important part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.

"It was a very hard time a couple of years back when I wasn't playing, when I wasn't even involved," Shaw told BBC Sport per MEN prior to Tuesday's 1-0 win over West Ham.

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"I always believed in myself. There were times where maybe people were thinking 'maybe he could leave', but I always believed that one day I would be able to fight my way back into the team and show people what my qualities are.

"I feel like I am starting to do that now but there is still more to come. I'm still quite young and have time to improve."

Mourinho would regularly bring Shaw off in games without reason and even claimed the former Southampton man was once "playing with his brain."

Following a draw against Everton in 2017, the Portuguese coach remarked: He [Shaw] had a good performance, but it was his body with my brain. He was in front of me and I was making every decision for him."

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Shaw was hit hard by the public belittling but knew he had support in the United hierarchy.

"It was difficult because I wasn't able to get my word across," Shaw continued. "A lot of people were behind me here, so I knew I had that backing, but I just needed to keep my head down and keep quiet.

"People were saying negative things about me but I just look back at it as a learning curve and something that has improved me as a person off the pitch, not just on it.

"You always have some doubts. I have been very unfortunate to pick up the injuries I have had but I've always believed I can be an important player here.

"You want to be here and showing people what you can do. Hopefully I can keep doing that and proving people wrong."

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So far this season, Shaw has five assists in 26 appearances in all competitions.

He came off the bench in extra time last night as United sealed a route into the FA Cup quarter finals, with Scott McTominay scored the only goal of the game.

Topics: Football News, Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United, Man U, Man utd, Premier League, Luke Shaw

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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