Jose Mourinho aims brutal dig at Henderson, Walker, Sterling, Stones and Shaw

Former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho has named some England players who should have stepped up to take a penalty for England instead of Bukayo Saka. 

England suffered penalty shootout heartbreak against Italy at Wembley on Sunday night with Markus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missing from the spot-kick.

Gareth Southgate had introduced Rashford and Sancho from the bench in the final minutes of extra time specifically for the imminent shootout.

After Rashford struck the post and Sancho’s effort was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, it was left to 19-year-old Saka to keep England’s hopes alive, with the Italian goalkeeper making another fine stop to seal the trophy.

Former United captain Roy Keane was among those to question why more senior players Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish did not step up for penalty duty.

Mourinho also named Shaw among the players he believed should have offered themselves up before Saka.

‘In this situation, where was Raheem Sterling? Where was John Stones? Where was Luke Shaw? Why didn’t Jordan Henderson or Kyle Walker stay on the pitch?

“Because in reality, it’s very, very hard for Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to come and take a penalty after one touch on the ball.

“But for Saka to have the destiny of a country on his shoulders. I think it’s too much.

“We can speak about the previous days and how they were amazing at taking penalties, but the problem with penalties is that it’s one thing to take one in training and one thing to take in a match.

“And for those situations, there is no way to train them properly because you can’t train with the real pressure, it’s something you only feel in that moment.

“Poor Saka, I just feel very sorry for him. Mourinho told TalkSport.

The painful defeat suffered in the hands of the Italians by the brave Three Lions has raised a whole lot of criticisms by pundits who are divided into two, where some are apportioning blame on the senior players who showed a lack of bravado to step in and make history for their country.