Jose Mourinho is slipping back into his default mode at Manchester United; calling out his players, the club’s fans and the history of the club in just the last few weeks.

At best, it feels like an outdated approach to provoking a reaction from those around the club. At worst, it feels like a classic self-defence strategy, aimed at protecting his own reputation, with nobody safe.

Luke Shaw has been a target for Mourinho’s ire throughout the Portuguese’s Old Trafford tenure and the most recent public attack has reportedly left the left-back seeking employment elsewhere in the summer.

Mourinho has also stated that his team is in transition but that has not washed with many observers given the money that he spent and the change he was brought in to oversee.

However, one man does agree and that is former United defender David May, speaking exclusively to 888Sport, he said:

“The team is still in transition. There are still players in that defence who were there before Sir Alex Ferguson left – Valencia, Smalling, Phil Jones and others – so maybe the manager thinks he still needs to bring somebody in to put pressure on them.

“It’s still going to take one or two windows and then you’ll see a real Jose team. Ultimately only one opinion matters and that’s Jose’s. 

On calling out the players after the Brighton game on 17 March, May added:

“That’s who Mourinho is and if he wants to call the players out in the press that’s his prerogative. He’s the manager of Manchester United and gets paid millions of pounds a year to do that so he has the right to say what he wants.

“If people don’t like it…tough. It’s down to the players to respond to it. I don’t know but he might be absolutely ripping their heads off in the dressing room and I’m sure at times he has done that.

“He’s looking for a reaction. So when they then go out onto the pitch and don’t do what they’ve been told to do maybe he got fed up with it and thought ‘you know what, the only way I can get a reaction out of them is by bringing it all out in the press’.

“That’s how the manager is and if you like it then good and if you don’t like it then so be it. Nobody should be questioning the manager because of the record that he’s got so put up with it or you have to leave. 

Specifically on the Shaw situation, which is dominating the news agenda, he said:

“I think Luke is a top, top player and one of the best left-backs in the country but is he doing what Jose is asking him to do? That’s why it looks like they’ve fell out.”

Read the full 888sport interview with David May, including his thoughts on getting the best out of Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.