Jose Mourinho endured a mixed time of things during his time with Manchester United and Wayne Rooney was one of those to slam one of the decisions made by the Portuguese coach at Old Trafford
Wayne Rooney and Jose Mourinho
Wayne Rooney and Jose Mourinho after the Carabao Cup final
(Image: Getty Images)
Wayne Rooney has revealed that Jose Mourinho ignored his request to up standards during his time at Manchester United. The Portuguese coach spent two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford and had a mixed time of things.
He led the Red Devils to the Community Shield, Europa League and the League Cup during his debut season with the club. But ahead of the Red Devils’ appearance at Wembley, Rooney was taken aback by the slipping standards displayed by a number of his teammates.
And he even went as far as speaking with Mourinho in an effort to get United stars to fall in line. Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, he said: “I remember we went to the League Cup final and players were wearing the suits with big, bright yellow trainers and stuff like that.
“I went to Mourinho and said, ‘Listen, I've spoken to the players and you need to have a word here and to keep the standards. We can't have that going to Wembley into a cup final’.”
And despite Rooney’s request, Mourinho appeared not to crack the whip at Old Trafford. He added: “He's like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I'll speak to them’. And then as we came down to leave, I've seen Jose there and he's got a zip-up top with no tie on. I was thinking, ‘What's the point?’
“He was more relaxed on it, so, what's the point? Why am I even bothering with this? I think now it's just wear what you want and they have phones, caps, whatever, trainers would suit.”
United have had a long tradition of players being expected to wear club suits before games. It was a tradition started by legendary former boss Sir Alex Ferguson and was re-adopted by a number of Mourinho’s successors including Louis van Gaal and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But Rooney has revealed that the Portuguese wasn’t as stringent, having been relatively relaxed during his spell with Chelsea. Rooney said: “When you used to look at Chelsea, if you looked at the players who weren't in the squad, they were on the bench and they were all in their own clothes, and I thought it looked a bit scruffy.
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney wanted to see Mourinho up standards at Old Trafford
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“Whereas at United, it was really professional and everyone, even if you're not in the squad, would be in the club suits. It looked really professional, and it's gone now.
“I think now it's the same with every club, they just wear whatever they want. But I just always think, United looked really professional.”
The suits have once again disappeared under current boss Ruben Amorim, who can regularly be seen sporting a tracksuit on the sidelines.
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