Manchester United all-time scorer Wayne Rooney has defended his final manager at the club, Jose Mourinho, on at least a couple occasions since he moved to MLS. His latest defense of his former boss is certainly the strongest he’s made since he left the club. Sunday saw Rooney play his final 2018 Major League Soccer regular season match just hours after his two former Premier League clubs, United and Everton, squared off.
United won the match 2-1, but it was only their fifth win from the first ten league games. A team that finished runners-up last season currently sits far outside the top four. While Mourinho has been the target of heavy criticism from multiple angles, Wayne Rooney took aim on the players.
Wazza believes they need to perform better and show more respect for the club.
“Obviously they are going through a difficult period at the minute, but Jose [Mourinho] is very experienced and I think some players have to do a little bit better,” he said.
“Hopefully they can turn their form around, win a few more games and keep the pressure on the top of the table and get back up there, which is where we all want to see them. In my experience, I have never seen or heard of a player not wanting to play in the game because they have had a falling out with the manager.”
“I don’t think as a player you could do that, you’ve got to respect the club and the fans and also respect your teammates.”
There have been widespread reports of Mourinho feuding with multiple players, Paul Pogba being the highest profile. The more United fails to produce results, the higher the tension will be. Mourinho has publicly called out multiple players during his time at Old Trafford, including Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw.
Wayne Rooney doesn’t believe that any players resent Mourinho enough that they would quit on the team though. He believes that they are all giving their best for the Portugese.
“I don’t think any player, certainly at Manchester United, will be not playing for Jose, I’m sure they’re all working hard behind the scenes to get results.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.