Jose Mourinho claims he was “accused of bullying” at his old club Manchester United after making a half-time substitution.
In the summer of 2016, he took over for Louis van Gaal. In his first season at Old Trafford, the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ won the Community Shield, League Cup, and Europa League.
He also stated that steering United to a runner-up finish in the Premier League was one of the highlights of his career because no one knew what was going on behind the scenes.
However, things went wrong in his final season at Manchester.
Mourinho was fired after two and a half years in charge after starting the 2018/19 Premier League season with only seven wins in 17 games.
United were 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool at the time, who would inflict another setback on Mourinho’s CV only two days later.
The Portuguese coach has now moved on to head Tottenham Hotspur and Roma, but the 60-year-old remains open about his time at Manchester United.
In fact, Mourinho mentioned the club several times while talking on John Obi-Mikel’s The Obi One Podcast on YouTube.
Here, he stated that he provided “everything he could” at United before discussing an event in which he was “accused” of bullying.
“When I was at Man United, I changed a player at half time,” he recalled. “I made a change and was accused of bullying.”
Mourinho did not name the player in issue, but did mention his substitute of Nemanja Matic against Southampton in 2015.
The former Chelsea manager, who said he was simply “doing anything” to win the game, went on to discuss how the world has evolved in terms of both management and life.
“With Matic at Stamford Bridge, he was on the bench,” Mourinho recalls. “I put him on minute 45, I take him off around minute 70. That’s education, that’s coaching. That’s doing anything to win. I had to (make the) change.
Also Read: Top 10 Players With Most Goals Scored Under Jose Mourinho
“I laugh about these times but it’s different times (now). Even to be a dad, you have to be a different dad to how your dad was to you. You have to change according to the world.”
Watch Mourinho’s full interview about Man United below:
Mourinho also made a not-so-subtle dig at current CEO Richard Arnold, stating he would have been delighted to have worked with him.
“They still have a CEO who is an amazing person, who I would love to have had during my time there, that’s Richard Arnold, who is probably now leaving,” he added.
“I had him as a Commercial Director, not a CEO, and I would love to have had him on my side in my time there, but the club wasn’t easy. I don’t have regrets because I gave everything.
“The Man United fans know I gave everything, they know how much I love the club.
“I went there once with Sky, I was in the box giving my comments and the whole stadium turned to me applauding and singing for me.”
