Jose Mourinho calls out Man Utd players who should have left “years ago”, claims Erik ten Hag has ‘more support’ than him

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said Erik ten Hag is receiving the support he never did when at the club.

During his time at the club, Manchester United‘s footballing structure was well behind where it should have been. As a result, only in recent months under INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, have the Red Devils begun to devote their resources to ensuring the off-the-pitch hierarchy is streamlined and efficient.

When Mourinho was at the club, so was former chief executive Ed Woodward, a man who had no real background in football before acquiring his first role at the club.

Woodward, who instead specialised in the commercial side of the club, frequently took on tasks that were beyond his skill set.

Discussing the difference in structure at the club compared to in 2017, Mourinho admitted that he believes the system now in place at United has benefited current manager Erik ten Hag.

Mourinho stated that he believes the current hierarchy has far more trust in Ten Hag than the former Chelsea and Real Madrid head coach received at Old Trafford.

“My relationship with [former chief executive] Ed Woodward was good. Good as in the personal point of view. Even now, we send an SMS,” 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.

“There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension.”

Regarding Mourinho’s comments surrounding his squad, only seven senior players have remained at the club since the end of his spell with the Red Devils.

Four of those players were introduced or signed by Mourinho: Scott McTominay, Victor Lindelof, Diogo Dalot, and Mason Greenwood.

The remaining three players, Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were all part of the squad before Mourinho’s arrival.

Of the latter three names, all are known to have had their issues with Mourinho.

Shaw told reporters in 2021 that there was “no hiding that we didn’t get on.” Martial, meanwhile, had noted that he was “disrespected” by Mourinho when the Portuguese manager took away his No. 9 shirt and moved him to No. 11.

Mourinho never shied away from commenting on his players. In 2018, whilst still manager of the club, Mourinho labelled Shaw, Martial, Rashford and Jesse Lingard as having great potential but “lacking in maturity.”

He also accused the four of “lacking character and personality,” stating that the four players were “spoilt kids.”

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