Man United boss Jose Mourinho has history of taking on his stars in public... but from Cristiano Ronaldo to Mario Balotelli he's had mixed results

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The furore over Jose Mourinho’s public criticism of Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling has not abated since the Manchester United manager first singled out his defenders in Turkey last week.

The lack of Premier League action during the international break has ensured that attention still remains firmly fixed on the Portuguese and his harsh verdict of his players’ character, with most observers still puzzling over why he went so far.

Mourinho has now been left red-faced by the news that Smalling has broken a toe so severely that he is out of action for a month.

Jose Mourinho made clear his unhappiness with Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling recently

One thing is clear: Mourinho would have been precisely aware of the impact of his words – it’s a trick he’s been pulling throughout his managerial career… with mixed success.

Only time will tell whether his blast at Shaw and Smalling will be one of his masterstrokes or his spectacular failures. He’s certainly had both – and these are the most public dressings down Mourinho has given his own players during his controversial time in management.

Vitor Baia (Porto)

'He was very young and wanted to make a statement – and he did it... I was his statement.' Years after the event, Baia reflected on his shock treatment by Mourinho and realised it was all part of a plan. Baia was then Portugal’s No 1 goalkeeper. At 32 years old he was the club’s biggest name and had won six Portuguese league titles and one with Barcelona (where he worked well with Mourinho). But Porto were underperforming under their young and ambitious new manager, and Mourinho sent a shock to the system. He and Baia had a training ground row and the keeper was banned from the club for one month.

Did it work?

‘After the suspension Jose welcomed me back with a big hug and I was straight back into the first team,’ said Baia. By the end of that season, both were title winners and UEFA Cup champions. The following year, the treble, including the Champions League followed. Mourinho became the world's most sought-after manager. Yep, it worked alright.

Mourinho at Barcelona with Vitor Baia (left), who went on to great success at Porto

Adrian Mutu (Chelsea)

Like at Porto, Mourinho made a statement early in his reign at Stamford Bridge by freezing out Mutu - a big-money £15.8million buy the previous season, who had enjoyed some success during his early days at the club - after just two games. The 25-year-old Romanian striker soon tested positive for cocaine and Mourinho hit out at his purchase by predecessor Claudio Ranieri. ‘Mutu was here before me, so it was not my mistake, but even for the people who bought him, in football two plus two is sometimes not four,’ he said.

Did it work?

Mourinho got his wish - Mutu out of the club - and Chelsea’s immediate and spectacular success without him, plus the player’s further drug problems later in his career, prove the Portuguese’s judgement was right. Mutu did, however, gain some sort of revenge when he weighed in on his old boss’s struggles at Chelsea last season when he said: ‘(Mourinho) has been a great coach in the past, but as a person, he is fake. As a coach, he is finished.’

Adrian Mutu comes under the critical gaze of Mourinho in Chelsea training in 2004

Joe Cole (Chelsea)

Another of Roman Abramovich’s statement signings at the beginning of his regime, English football had been waiting for Joe Cole to come of age and take his place as the heir to Paul Gascoigne. Early in Mourinho’s reign Cole scored the winning goal in a 1-0 triumph over Liverpool, but the manager still chose the moment to publicly criticise the then 22-year-old starlet’s effort in defence. ‘He has a lot to learn,’ said Mourinho. ‘I think he has two faces - one beautiful and one I don't like. He must keep one and change the other one... When he scored the goal the game finished for him. After that I needed 11 players for my defensive organisation and I had just 10.’

Did it work? 

Cole spent much of Mourinho’s glorious first season in England kicking his heels as Chelsea romped to the title. But he heeded Mourinho’s words, upped his work-rate and fought his way past Damian Duff and Arjen Robben into the team, won another title and rarely looked back. Only a serious injury in 2009 halted his career at the moment when he was arguably England’s best player. He left Chelsea a year later having won three Premier League titles, and last year hailed Mourinho as ‘the best manager in the world’.

Joe Cole was given some tough love by Mourinho but went down as a Chelsea hero

Mario Balotelli (Inter Milan)

Before Mourinho arrived at the San Siro, Balotelli was already creating quite a stir. He scored twice in just his second game for the club and was an Italian league and cup winner by the age of just 17. But the problems started the following season, when Mourinho became head coach. His attitude was called into question: ‘As far as I'm concerned, a young boy like him cannot allow himself to train less than people like Figo, Cordoba, and Zanetti,’ said Mourinho. After a 1-1 draw with Roma in November 2009, Mourinho said that Balotelli ‘came close to a zero rating'; but there were other flashpoints - too many to list here.

Did it work? 

As anybody who has followed Balotelli’s subsequent career will know, the Italian is his own worst enemy. He continued to lock horns with Mourinho – wearing the shirt of fierce rivals AC Milan on Italian TV was not a bright idea – and there was only ever going to be one winner. Inter won the Champions League while barely using him, while Balotelli's spells at Manchester City, Milan and Liverpool have not been without their moments, but ultimately all were failures.

Mario Balotelli's wild ways were never going to sit well with Mourinho and he left Inter

Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan)

In the summer of 2008 Muntari was a surprise £12.7m addition to Mourinho’s squad from Portsmouth. In August the following year Mourinho subbed the midfielder after just half an hour of a draw with Bari, later claiming the Ghanian was lacking in energy. Mourinho drew the anger of many Muslims by saying: ‘Muntari had some problems related to Ramadan, perhaps with this heat it's not good for him to be doing this (fasting). Ramadan has not arrived at the ideal moment for a player to play a football match.’

Did it work? 

Unsurprisingly, Mourinho received plenty of criticism from Islamic leaders over his comments. He also had some support, suggesting that his comments had been, despite a lack of tact, not meant to be insulting. Muntari never established himself as a key player for Mourinho but was a valued member of the squad who went on to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2010 and win the treble. Muntari has said of Mouinho: ‘He is not fake, Mourinho is real. You only play when he trust you, if you don’t it means that he doesn’t trust and will openly tell you.’

Sulley Muntari was the subject of some of Mourinho's most controversial comments

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

Dropping the player he referred to not that long before as ‘the best goalkeeper in the world’ was bad enough in the eyes of many Madridistas. But Mourinho, who fell out with Casillas a few months after taking over at the Bernabeu in 2010, stretched things a bit when he then described Antonio Adan, an inexperienced youth graduate, as ‘better’ than the club legend and recent World Cup winner. When that did not work out, Mourinho later signed Diego Lopez from Villarreal and played him ahead of Casillas, saying: ‘I like more Diego Lopez more, it’s that simple.’

Did it work? 

Mourinho took on arguably the most powerful man in the Real Madrid dressing room, and ultimately lost. His achievement of beating Barcelona – almost certainly the best club side ever seen and at the peak of their powers - to the La Liga title in 2012 should never be underestimated. But Casillas had powerful allies in Pepe and Sergio Ramos, who led a dressing-room revolt against their manager. Casillas claimed his place back and was winning trophies with Real long after Mourinho left.

Iker Casillas was the king of Real Madrid's dressing room but Mourinho still took him on

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Despite enjoying a close mutual friend in agent Jorge Mendes, the relationship between Mourinho and Ronaldo is widely reported to have been uneasy from the start. The world’s most expensive footballer did not take kindly to orders while Mourinho never favours a Queen Bee over a Worker. Their animosity was kept mostly within the confines of the dressing room until Mourinho let slip to the press his frustrations. ‘When I criticised him from a tactical point of view because I felt he could still improve, he did not accept what I had to say,’ said Mourinho. ‘That might be because he thinks he already knows everything and the coach cannot help him grow anymore.’

Did it work? 

Just as with the Casillas row, Mourinho found to his cost that dressing-room politics operate differently at the Bernabeu than in any other in the world. Ronaldo, as one of the two outstanding footballers of his generation – and with an almost incalculable value to his club - had too much power. The club’s supporters were divided over Mourinho but after a trophyless season ended in 2013 he was gone.

Cristiano Ronaldo was another big ego not compatible with Mourinho's personality

Juan Mata (Chelsea)

The Spaniard's status as the club’s player of the year for the previous two seasons was not enough to save him when Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge. Mata was in most people’s eyes the club’s best player, but he was instantly dropped. For once it was Mourinho’s actions, not words, that publicly challenged a player: Mata, Chelsea’s darling, started just five Premier League games before December, and failed to complete 90 minutes in any of those games. The disharmony was obvious.

Did it work? 

Mata departed for Manchester United within six months of Mourinho’s return, and the manager went on to win the title the following year. Since joining United himself, however, Mourinho has insisted that it was never his decision to sell Mata, and that it was the player who wanted to leave. The signs were ominous when Mourinho substituted Mata during the Community Shield at Wembley - just 27 minutes after he had introduced him from the bench. But Mata has become a seemingly trusted senior player at United under Mourinho.

Juan Mata went from Chelsea's best player to bombed out within a matter of months

Nemanja Matic

Substituting a substitute sends as clear a public message about a player than any verbal barb. With Chelsea level against Southampton at half-time during a match at Stamford Bridge last year, Mourinho sent on Matic. Within 28 minutes, he was back on the bench again. The Serb had been a titan in Chelsea’s midfield after Mourinho brought him back from Benfica, playing a key role in their title win of 2015. By the 3-1 defeat by the Saints, it was clear that Mourinho thought his standards had slipped. ‘It was not humiliating,' insisted Mourinho. 'I do not do that to anyone, in football and in life. With the players, it is not easy. I like them, I trust them. I know they are good players but some of them are in a difficult moment – Matic is one of them. He is not playing well. He is not sharp defensively. He is making mistakes with the ball and not making the best decisions.'

Did it work? 

The worst season of Mourinho’s career was given exclamation points by clear fallings out with Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, as well as Matic, and he was gone by December, his reputation perhaps permanently damaged. It took nearly a year before Matic regained his mojo, but now he is back to his best. Of the incident against Southampton, Matic said: ‘How did I feel? Terrible,’ he said. ‘I am a man first of all and of course I felt bad. But I didn’t react, I stayed professional. I respect this club, this shirt I wear every week, and that is why I didn’t react. Inside it hurt, of course. Some players react and cause some problems but I didn’t. It was very hard.’

Nemanja Matic suffered the ignominy of being substituted after coming on as a sub himself