“But I came out in the second half and I felt much better. I was closing him sharply, we made sure he got no crosses in and I felt really good. Hopefully I play on Saturday and get another 90 minutes and a good result with that.”

Mourinho tried to sign Shaw when he was Chelsea manager but later claimed after losing out to United for the player that paying the then 18-year-old the sort of salary he was earning at Old Trafford would have “killed” the stability in the Stamford Bridge dressing room.

Mourinho’s criticism of Shaw after Watford bore similarities to Louis van Gaal’s public rebukes of the left-back during his first season at United, when more senior players eventually had to go to the Dutchman to ask him to lay off the youngster.