Jose Mourinho: Man Utd tenure could have been different if club trusted me more

By Sports Desk April 22, 2024

Jose Mourinho believes his time with Manchester United may have been more successful had he been afforded the same level of support and trust as current manager Erik ten Hag.

Mourinho won the Carabao Cup and Europa League in his first season at Old Trafford before finishing second in the Premier League the following campaign.

But the Portuguese, who revealed he endured a difficult working relationship with former United chief executive Ed Woodward, was sacked in December 2018 after a poor run of results.

The fortunes of the 20-time English champions have improved little since his departure, with Dutchman Ten Hag taking over in 2022 following the tenures of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim coach Ralf Rangnick.

“My relationship with Ed Woodward was good – good as in the personal point of view,” Mourinho told the Telegraph.

“But from a professional point of view it was not the best.

“I am who I am. I am a football man. Ed comes from a different background and what Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust.

“So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process.

“In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different.”

Former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager Mourinho returned to the Premier League with Tottenham in 2019 before taking charge at Roma, a role he left in January.

The 61-year-old “would love Manchester United to succeed” but suggested some squad members remaining from his tenure lack the professionalism to represent a club striving to compete with the world’s best.

“There are a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago,” he said.

“I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension.

“But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”

Related items

  • Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome

    Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

    Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.

    Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.

    Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.

    Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.

    Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.

    "It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.

    "You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."

    Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.

    Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.

    He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.

    "Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.

    "I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
  • Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma

    Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.

    Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.

    Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.

    Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.

    Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.

    Data Debrief: Leading from the back

    Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.

    His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.

  • Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off

    Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.

    The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.

    She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.

    Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.

    Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.

    Data Debrief:

    Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.

    The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.