Jose Mourinho no longer has "warriors" at his disposal because the game has moved on from his first stint at Chelsea, says Alan Shearer.
The Manchester United boss hit out at late withdrawals Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw on Sunday ahead of their 3-1 win over Swansea.
Mourinho insinuated that his players should be prepared to play through pain for their shirt, calling out Smalling and Shaw's mental toughness before kick-off.
“We have players with problems but we have on the pitch players with problems,” said Mourinho, whose side moved up to sixth. “That's what I mean.
“I know in other sports - at the highest level - how many times you play and you are not 100 per cent.
“I have a friend who is a big tennis player and he remembers more the times he played with pain than the times he played without any pain.
“To compete you have to go to the limits. It's a cultural thing for some. That is not my culture.”
Asked if Smalling and Shaw had to change their mindset, Mourinho said: “Exactly. More for Manchester United than for me.”
BBC Match of the Day pundit Shearer appeared to agree.
"In my experience, very rarely are you ever 100 per cent fit when you go out onto the pitch to play," he said.
"Whether you take anti-inflammatories or whatever, very rarely are you 100 per cent.
"When [Mourinho] was at Chelsea the first time he had warriors - [Didier] Drogba, [Frank] Lampard, [John] Terry, [Claude] Makelele, [Petr] Cech, all of these guys you would never question.
"And he is becoming more and more vocal, Mourinho, in digging out his players in public, which was very rare during that time at Chelsea.
"Yes, the game has moved on. Players are paid a hell of a lot more money and don’t have to put themselves under pressure and stress to go out and play."
Despite the negative comments about some players, United ended a run of four Premier League games without a win, with two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a wonder strike from world record £89million signing Paul Pogba .
Before the game Mourinho revealed how Smalling and Shaw had forced him into a late defensive reshuffle with their late withdrawals.
“Smalling doesn't feel that he can play 100 per cent with his pain,” said Mourinho.
“Shaw told me this morning that he wasn't in the condition to play, so we had to build a defensive line.”
Mourinho watched the game from the stands after serving a one-match touchline ban after accepting an FA misconduct charge.
But he said the ban had no effect on his ability to do his job. “I did what I do,” he said. “I made the changes.
“I was in the dressing-room before the game and at half-time.
“One thing is the suspension that stops the manager from communicating and that's a problem.
“Another is a suspension where a manager can communicate and see the team and be with the team and speak to the assistants on the bench. So in those terms it wasn't a problem.”