'Don't do it in public!' - Ferdinand fires back at Mourinho over his Shaw, Rashford, Martial & Lingard rant

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'Don't do it in public!' - Ferdinand fires back at Mourinho over his Shaw, Rashford, Martial & Lingard ran

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The United boss told the press four of his players lacked maturity in the build up to Saturday's draw but the ex-defender is unhappy

Jose Mourinho's criticism of his Manchester United players is having a negative effect on performances according to Rio Ferdinand.

The Red Devils boss has consistently called out individuals for poor displays on the pitch, most recently claiming Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard lack maturity ahead of Saturday's fixture with Crystal Palace.

United were held to a goalless draw by Palace at Old Trafford and after the game the manager said his side lacked heart and desire .

Ferdinand spent 12 years at United - mostly under Sir Alex Ferguson - and thinks Mourinho has himself to blame for his players' poor show of passion.

Speaking on BT Sport,  the former centre-back said: “When you get comments where he’s hammering four or five of the young players at the club, saying their mentality isn’t right, what do you expect?

“Do you expect to have players on your side or do you expect your players to go ‘hold on a minute, my manager is hammering me in public again’?

“I just don’t think it’s right for a football manager to be doing that. I don’t think you’re going to get productivity out of those kind of comments. I don’t think it’s proactive for the club.

“What he’s said might be true. He’s behind closed doors, he sees these boys day in, day out. He might look at those four or five kids and go ‘you know what, this is exactly how I feel about you’. He’s got that right to say that.

“But I think behind closed doors, in the changing room, embarrass them in front of the team. You don’t get positivity doing that publicly and the fans don’t like that either.”

Indeed, many United fans were calling for Mourinho to be sacked after his side's lacklustre start to the season and his handling of a rift with former vice-captain Paul Pogba . 

The Portuguese coach looked to have turned things around with impressive wins over Newcastle, Everton, Bournemouth and Juventus, but the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City before the international break and the latest 0-0 draw with Palace spells fresh trouble for the Reds' boss.

United face Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night at Old Trafford where they surely must win to help calm tensions around the club.