Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has continued to attract headlines with his press conference comments this season. The former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager has never been one to hide his opinions, whether they be popular or not.

In his first season at Old Trafford Mourinho has often come out in criticism of members of his own squad, hanging them out to dry in front of the press.

Whereas the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay and Bastian Schweinstieger have all moved on from Manchester since the start of the season, the Portuguese was never too harsh on them.

On the other hand, those that have stayed put are the ones taking the brunt of Mourinho’s criticism, in public that is. The likes of Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and most recently Anthony Martial have all been put under pressure from their boss.

Martial returned to the fold against Burnley at the weekend and did so in fine fashion scoring a fine opener before laying on the assist for Wayne Rooney to score his sixth goal of the season.

Speaking after the win, Mourinho hailed the returning Frenchman as a new signing ahead of the run in.

“He has to understand what we need from him, but it’s not just for us but it’s also for him,” Mourinho said.

“If he wants to become a very special player – [and] he can do that – then he has to go in a certain direction and he showed this attitude and appetite. We are happy because we have a new player until the end of the season.”

Whilst Mourinho’s treatment of some of his players this season has come across as harsh, having publicly criticised many of them on a regular basis, and even claiming that Shaw was playing with his manager’s brain just a few weeks ago, it has worked.

It is clear that Mourinho is only taking this approach with players he believes have a future under him at the club, and their performances have all benefited off the back of his criticisms.

Having been out of the side in the early stages, Mkhitaryan has become one of the key players so far, especially on the European stage. Furthermore, the most recent showings of Shaw prove that he has what it takes at this level having suffered his severe leg break at the start of last season.

Therefore, in the future it would be wise to take a look at the potential of a player and his future at the squad before lamenting Mourinho for his public stance.