Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Gary Neville have agreed that Red Devils defender Luke Shaw was a bad fit under former boss Jose Mourinho.
Shaw was the victim of several public criticisms by Mourinho during his time in charge of United between 2016 and 2018.
The 58-year-old has previously suggested he often had to coach Shaw through matches.
The England star had recently recovered from a serious knee injury which threatened his career. He struggled for fitness and played in only 55 of the Portuguese’s 144 games in charge.
Mourinho was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December 2018 and has since become one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.
Shaw registered five assists and scored once as United finished runners-up in the top-flight last term.
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“What’s happened to him over the last year or two is he’s played regularly, he’s played consistently.
“We all know how good he is going forward, that’s never been in question. The question mark has been with his fitness and how he does defensively.
“He’s improved, but it’s about time for him. He’s 25, sometimes the penny drops, he’s a lot fitter now.
“I’m sure if you spoke to Mourinho now he might say: ‘maybe I could have done something different’, but the guy is in top form now and deserves credit.
“Every player has his ups and downs, he’s now playing with great confidence.”
Neville agreed and added that Shaw’s personality clashed with Mourinho.
“I think Jose was harsh on him and he was never going to respond to that, Luke Shaw, because of the type of character he is,” Neville said.
“But, if Luke was honest with himself, which I know he would be, there were things he wasn’t doing right at the time which were contributing towards his lack of performance and injuries.
“Now you can say he’s matured, he’s doing the right things, but you do need to look after Luke Shaw, there’s no doubt about it.
“He responds to Gareth Southgate, and he responds to Mauricio Pochettino.
“Shaw’s not going to respond to Mourinho, fact, but he still had some things he had to sort out himself.”
Keane believes that Mourinho still had an impact on Shaw’s positive form, despite their fiery relationship.
“I guarantee he still took some pointers off Mourinho,” Keane added.
“Managers have to be tough with players sometimes, they don’t like it, but I bet the penny dropped with some of the things he said to him.”
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