Jose Mourinho rarely does or says anything that he isn't complete control of so when he hints that a very surprise player could start on Saturday afternoon it's probably worth listening to him.
Mourinho has made a career out of trying to play mind games with both what he says and what he does. Of course it doesn't always work but based on his career it's been a tactic that's worked pretty well for him.
It's obviously difficult to play too many surprises in the Premier League, after all he only has a squad of 25 to choose from. At one point he might have been able to start Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of nowhere but the Swede moved to LA Galaxy last week.
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Mourinho knew what he was saying in these top quotes:
Sir Alex Ferguson once played the ultimate surprise by getting Paul Scholes to come out of retirement, not telling anyone and then putting him on the bench for a game against Manchester City, Mourinho isn't about to pull anything like that.
However the former Chelsea manager did drop a hint that there could be a surprise against Swansea. Talking about Ashley Young's potential injury Mourinho revealed that Luke Shaw might play instead, saying:
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"If he's available, Luke Shaw is always an option. Ashley Young was available to play against Brighton, so I started with Luke Shaw, so that's not a problem.
"Young had a problem in the last part of the game against Italy, but we think there is a chance for him to recover."
It's also a surprise to hear Mourinho mention the Brighton game as a reason why Shaw could start. During the FA Cup game the 22 year old started his first game in about a month only to be pulled off at half time.
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It led to people criticising the manager for being so harsh on a player that many feel has been treated badly ever since the current boss took over from Louis van Gaal around 18 months ago.
It was revealed earlier on Friday that Shaw even asked his manager why he's always picked on after he was taken off during the Brighton game.
Young played for England last week and could miss out to relegation threatened Swans because of a possible injury, if not Mourinho does have other options but will he go for Shaw?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Premier League, Luke Shaw, swansea