MOURINHO IMPOSES SOCIAL MEDIA BAN ON MAN UTD PLAYERS

The manager moved to put an end to a series of public
posts of training and recovery sessions which have
drawn his ire in recent months

       Jose Mourinho has enforced a social media ban on his
Manchester United players in a bid to limit the extent
of information leaking out of the first-team squad.
Various United stars have hit the headlines for posts
made on their various social media accounts this
season, perhaps most notably when Paul Pogba and
Jesse Lingard came under fire from ex-United
defender Rio Ferdinand for performing a dance
routine in the dressing room at the club’s Carrington
training site and sharing it on Instagram.
But Mourinho has grown increasingly frustrated with
the tendency of his players to turn to social media,
particularly when recovering from high-profile
injuries.
       Luke Shaw drew his manager’s ire in the autumn
when posting a photograph of him training away from
the club as he looked to make a comeback from a leg
injury, and Chris Smalling was recently shared a video
of himself running under reduced weight in a
hydrotherapy pool as he looks to return after a knee
injured picked up when training with England in
March.
Good day at the office and nice to finally be
out of the brace running on reduced weight
to help strengthen the leg... #MUFC
9:39 PM - 18 Apr 2017
1,008 4,499
Chris Smalling
@ChrisSmalling
      As a result of the catalogue of posts he has found
fault with, Mourinho has taken the step to prohibit
his players sharing any snaps from training or
recovery sessions and has also restricted their use of
any social media service in the 48 hours leading up to
matches. It is believed that Smalling’s recent video
was the catalyst for the manager to take the
arbitrary step in banning all players’ access to their
accounts.
      The Portuguese has become known for having a short
fuse with any player not taking to their recovery
from injury in the way that he would like, having
called into question the desire and commitment of
Shaw, Smalling and Phil Jones as they have closed in
on returns at various stages this season.

“It’s about the philosophy and mentality around
them,” he said of Jones and Smalling after they were
ruled out of last week’s Manchester derby.
“Cautious. Cautious. Cautious. Just a cautious
approach. It’s a profile. It’s the philosophy of work.
Just that.”
      He then claimed he was expecting “a big injury” to
Shaw after the England full-back was withdrawn just
nine minutes into Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Swansea
City at Old Trafford, with the 21-year-old
subsequently sent to see a specialist for what is
expected to be a season-ending foot problem.