Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has state the fact that he does not care if criticising his players makes them feel bad or not, seeing it as "common sense" if they are not giving him the perfection he wants.
Quite a number of United's players have been subjected to public criticism by their manager this season, like Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial who are currently going through that.
When grilled if his actions are calculated risk, Mourinho told Sky Sports on Tuesday "I don't care. I don't even think about it.
“I just try to be who I am. I just try to be honest and direct, and I don’t think about the consequences.
“You give me everything you have, I thank you for that. You don’t give me everything you have, I ask you for more. That is just common sense.”
19-year-old Marcus Rashford happens to be the only player who has received praise from Mourinho, thanks to his three goals in United's last five matches.
Mourinho also added ahead of Thursday’s Premier League derby showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium “When you give everything you have, I cannot demand more from you, and Marcus, even not performing especially well, was giving absolutely everything.
“So I could never demand more from him. I could just support and say that better days will arrive, but (I am) always super happy with the approach from such a young and talented kid.
“Some other guys don’t give everything they have, so that is the point – they have to. And when they do it, I am happy with them. It doesn’t matter the way they perform.”
United will head into Thursday’s game with relatively large number of injury issues, including what the club termed as “serious” knee ligament damage sustained last week by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, their top (28) goal scorer.
Although Mourinho refused to draw on the future concerning the 35-year-old Sweden internationally, whose contract with Manchester United is due to expire this summer, but he did confirm the striker had travelled to the United States for surgery.
Mourinho said: “He is in America to have the surgery and start the recovering process, and that is the only thing that matters for us.”
United are currently fifth in the table, just one point behind fourth-placed City with both having five more league games to go after Thursday’s.
United have already won the EFL Cup this season and have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, a competition that has a Champions League spot for its winners.
Mourinho, who signed a three-year deal when he was appointed as United manager last summer, feels this term can be the first of several “better years” for the club.
“I always feel that the season is very important for me, for the players, for the club,” the 54-year-old said.
“I would say it can be the first season of the next five or six or seven, who knows, but it can be the first season of better years.”
Mourinho has also emphasise that the focus of the derby should not be himself and his old rival City manager, Pep Guardiola.
Mourinho said: “This is about the clubs, the teams, the positions at the end of the season. This is not about myself and Guardiola.”
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