Luke Shaw made his former boss Jose Mourinho eat his words with an excellent display during Manchester United's 3-1 win at Tottenham.
Fans spotted post-match that, as a glum Mourinho arrived on the pitch and walked over to Shaw, it just so happened to be at the exact moment the left-back was high-fiving an ecstatic-looking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
It must have been an incredibly sweet moment for the England player, who was harshly criticised by Mourinho during the manager's two and a half years at Old Trafford, during which time Shaw struggled with injuries and low confidence.
Some, including Mourinho, might just call the treatment tough love. But some of Jose's comments - including accusing Shaw of lacking a football brain - seemed unnecessarily cruel.
Now, Shaw has had the last laugh. The 25-year-old who struggled under Mourinho's reign is having the best spell of his career, establishing himself as United's first-choice left-back, an England regular and impressing fans with his consistency and all-action displays.
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A far cry from 2017 when, after a good performance against Everton, Mourinho took credit by saying of Shaw: "He was right in front of me and I was making every decision for him.
"He has to change his football brain. We need his fantastic physical and technical qualities, but he cannot continue to play with my brain."
It went further than public attacks. According to a source spoken to by The Athletic, Mourinho was "horrendous" to Shaw behind the scenes.
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"It was absolutely horrendous privately," they said. "Much worse. But Luke didn't go within himself. He is a strong personality. In the end, he just ignored Jose's comments."
Mourinho also once criticised Shaw's after subbing him at half-time during an FA Cup tie against Brighton in 2018. The Portuguese said that his players lacked "personality, class and desire" after the final whistle.
Shaw has spoken about his United career before Solskjaer took over, admitting: "I had no confidence at that time. I was losing my belief. I think that is what changed with Ole. He managed me right and I got my confidence back and I am really enjoying it at the moment.
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"Enjoyment and confidence. For me, they are the two biggest things you need on the pitch. You need that belief in your ability to perform at the highest level. I feel I have that now."
Manchester United's 3-1 win on Sunday came after Spurs went into the break with a 1-0 lead. Edinson Cavani controversially had what would've been an opening goal ruled out by VAR (Scott McTominay catching Son Heung-min with a hand to the face during the build-up) before Son himself opened the scoring.
But the way United fought back through goals from Fred, Cavani and Mason Greenwood piled the pressure on Mourinho, whose side now sit six points outside the Premier League top four.
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Jose did his duty by acknowledging each of the United players on the pitch. Even though, when he got to Shaw, he was greeted by the sight of the left-back joyously celebrating with his current boss right in front of his old one.
Living out the dream of us all there, Luke.
Featured image credit: PA Images/Sky Sports
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Jose Mourinho, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Premier League, Luke Shaw
