4 signs that indicate Mourinho’s 3rd season syndrome is underway at Manchester United

#3 Public criticism of players

West Ham United v Manchester United - Premier League

Last season, Mourinho was very public in his criticism of Luke Shaw, as the player returned from injury. He did not mince his words while talking about Mkhitaryan either and while that seemed to work temporarily, it was all but a false positive.

He also saw his differences with Paul Pogba increase last season, when he questioned the Frenchman’s desire and benched him in important games, including a crucial Champions League tie. Over the summer, Martial publicly bore the brunt of his manager's ire, for the simple reason that the Frenchman wanted to be by his family’s side during the birth of his child.

He then went ahead and said that fans should not come to see his team play. After the stale home draw against Valencia on Tuesday, he degraded his players again, saying that they lacked technical quality to build from the back and create 20 chances in a game. This is again, history repeating itself with Mourinho on his final season at a club.

At Real Madrid, he publicly demeaned Pepe, saying that Raphael Varane was the reason why the Portuguese defender was losing his way. Pepe had previously said in an interview that he regretted Mourinho’s handling of Casillas. During his second stint at Chelsea, Eva Carneiro and Jon Fearn felt the full extent of his wrath. The public humiliation of his players came as early as August in his third season, after a loss at the hands of Crystal Palace at home.

Mourinho's inclination of criticizing his players in public is so frequent in his recent managerial history, that it has to be considered a habit. It is demoralizing and humiliating and it impacts the players psychologically. The Legendary Sir Alex Ferguson rarely berated his players publicly, and even when he did, it was generic. The Board at Manchester United must decide how much more of this they can entertain at the moment.