Luke Shaw should use criticism from Jose Mourinho to fuel response on pitch, talkSPORT told, after former Manchester United boss dubbed England star’s corners ‘dramatically bad’

Stuart Pearce insists Manchester United and England star Luke Shaw should use recent criticism from Jose Mourinho to fuel a response on the pitch.

While working for talkSPORT as a Euro 2020 pundit, Mourinho claimed Shaw had a ‘very good’ game in England’s 1-0 win over the Czech Republic, but admitted his corners were ‘dramatically bad’.

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During his time in charge of the Red Devils, Mourinho publicly criticised the left-back on more than one occasion and even accused him of lacking commitment and ambition.

Fast forward now and Shaw, United’s 2020/21 Player of the Season, has won back his place in the England team, starting his country’s last two matches at Euro 2020.

And in a fiery interview responding to Mourinho’s latest criticism, Shaw urged his former manager to ‘move on’.

He said: "There is no hiding that we didn't get on.

"I think he was a brilliant manager but, you know, the past is the past. It is time to move on. I am trying to move on but, obviously, he can't.

"He continuously talks about me, which I find quite strange. Even some of the lads have said, 'what's his problem?' and 'why does he keep talking?'

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"He just needs to move on. Hopefully he can find his peace with that and finally move on and stop worrying about me. Clearly I am in his head a lot and he clearly thinks about me a lot."

Former England left-back Pearce believes Mourinho was only trying to get the best out of Shaw with his choice of words.

He told talkSPORT: “Sometimes when the manager stops talking to you, that is the worst scenario to be in.

“Jose thinks Luke is a very, very good player and thinks he can get more and more out of him or could have got more and more out of him as a player.

“I thought there were compliments in there, it just depends what you’re looking for within a statement.

“If you’ve got a mindset that, ‘this fella doesn’t like me’, then you’ll only ever pick out the one [negative] thing.”

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Pearce also reckons Shaw can use Mourinho’s criticism as motivation to better himself on the pitch.

He added: “The bottom line is you have to use that and turn it on its head.

“If you’ve got someone to prove wrong, it’s a powerful tool in life.

“I don’t think Jose dislikes Luke Shaw as much as he thinks that he does.

“I may be wrong, I don’t know the individual interaction between the two of them.”