Jose Mourinho has aimed a dig at an unnamed Manchester United player for asking to drive his Rolls Royce after a game instead of joining the rest of the players on the team bus, insinuating that the incident contributed to his sacking.
Mourinho was sacked by United in December after a series of bad results. While at Old Trafford, the former Chelsea boss was reportedly involved in bust-ups with players like Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw.
Now, Mourinho has opened up on one event at United where he felt player power triumphed over him.
‘We would play a team that was 30 kilometres from Manchester, it wasn’t like 300 or 400km,’ Mourinho said at the ANTF Coaches Forum in Portimao.
‘And a player asked me if after the game he could return to Manchester without the team, and go on his own.
‘And I told him: ‘That doesn’t make sense, if we went to London and you wanted to stay that would be something else.’
‘But this was close, it didn’t make sense.
‘The guy was upset. But then we won the game and he asked me again because I was happy.
‘I told him again, but as I was happy I gave in a little and said: ‘At least leave the stadium on the bus and ask your chauffeur to catch up with you 10 minutes from the stadium and then go as you wish.’
‘And this guy still wasn’t happy in the dressing room.
‘I went to the press conference and after that, when I arrived to the team bus a Rolls Royce with his chauffeur were parked beside it.
‘After all the car was new and ‘his excellency’ would like to leave the stadium in his Rolls Royce.
‘Now how do we deal with this? You never go in the Rolls Royce? You can go when I’m happy?
‘Or you solve this thing in another way to get me ‘on vacation’.’
Mourinho also reiterated his desire to return to management this summer.
‘I decided not to coach until the start of next season and my return to the bench must be in a club and in a league that motivates me,’ he said.
‘I am not sad that I am not coaching at the moment but honestly I want to return this upcoming pre-season.’