Neville: 'Shaw must mature at United'

Luke Shaw and team-mate Chris Smalling appeared to be criticised by Jose Mourinho after having deemed themselves unfit for the Sunday's 3-1 Premier League win at Swansea City.

Published : Nov 09, 2016 13:07 IST

Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw in action.

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville said left-back Luke Shaw must mature and step up in the Old Trafford spotlight amid questions surrounding his future.

Shaw and team-mate Chris Smalling appeared to be criticised by Jose Mourinho after sitting out Sunday's 3-1 Premier League win at Swansea City, with the United manager questioning the mentality of some of his players with the defensive pair having deemed themselves unfit for the match.

Since arriving from Southampton, Shaw's time at United has been hampered by injuries, having only just returned to the senior side after breaking his leg last September. And Neville has urged the 21-year-old England international to deal with the weight of expectations at the club.

"I think Luke is a more complex character," Neville told Sky Sports. "He is young, has moved away from Southampton, and he needs to mature physically and mentally. He is such a huge talent but obviously has had injury problems and is not over them from a mental point of view and he needs to work on that.

"He is a young person with big expectation, but he is now in the spotlight at a big club, and Manchester United doesn't take prisoners. Jose Mourinho won't either because it will be him or the players that are going to survive and he doesn't work on the theory it will be the players."

"Jose is looking to make his name at Manchester United and he has to make sure he has the players alongside him he wants."