Man Utd boss Mourinho hits out at Sterling over World Cup displays

Joe Williams

Jose Mourinho thinks that Raheem Sterling should have been dropped from England’s third-place play-off match after some of his performances at the World Cup.

Sterling contributed just one assist and no goals as England scored 12 and reached the semi-finals in Russia.

The Manchester City winger has faced a lot of criticism for his displays despite the overall success of the national team and Mourinho has had his say.

“A little bit surprising for me is Sterling in the team because he did not have a good World Cup,” Mourinho said when discussing England’s line-up in their 2-0 loss to Belgium on Saturday.

“He didn’t have a good enough World Cup to be chosen for a match in front of [Jamie] Vardy, [Danny] Welbeck and [Marcus] Rashford – people with probably better conditions from a physical and psychological point of view to start the game.

“They made changes that improved the team. The team was more dynamic in the second half. Some good chances. [Eric] Dier arriving in that position. He’s a No.6, a defensive midfielder, to arrive in that position is an extra thing.

“[John] Stones, [Harry] Maguire coming with the ball into midfield and giving some freedom to other players.

“Rashford – I don’t say quality because he didn’t have many quality situations – but his happiness, his youth, his movement, gave a good dynamic to the team too. England was better in the second half.”