Basti says Mourinho not the one who froze him out
BASTIAN Schweinsteiger has suggested his unhappy spell at United may not have all been down to boss Jose Mourinho.
The 32-year-old was largely frozen out under Mourinho at Old Trafford and left to join MLS side Chicago Fire in March.
But while he described the situation at United as ‘unfortunate’, Schweinsteiger told ESPN he did not believe Mourinho was solely responsible.
Schweinsteiger said: “I had a talk with him and he had an opinion, maybe it was not made by himself.
“(The decision not to play me) was maybe made by someone else without him, so I think after I trained and I played – and you could see how I behaved as a professional – and he has a different opinion, so it was a little bit unfortunate.
“I think (it would be different) if we would have met in a different situation.”
The German international was signed by Mourinho’s predecessor, Louis van Gaal, in the summer of 2015, but under Mourinho he was forced to train on his own for three months.
Schweinsteiger added: “In my eyes it was not the right decision, but in life sometimes you have this kind of situation where something is not correct and right in your way, but you have to accept it, and I accepted it.
“I said ‘okay, I accept it, but still want to stay here and want to train. I want to show I am a player you can trust.’” IF JOSE Mourinho is serious about keeping David de Gea at Old Trafford, he must start him in the Europa League final. No ifs or buts. United are determined to resist the attentions of Real Madrid this summer – but they will be playing right into the hands of Florentino Perez if De Gea is left on the bench in Stockholm later this month.
The new contract that is currently being drawn up will be worth barely more than the paper it’s written on if Mourinho follows through with his intention to play Sergio Romero ahead of his No1.
As De Gea weaved his way through Tottenham supporters invading the pitch at White Hart Lane on Sunday, he must have asked himself just how far behind Mauricio Pochettino’s side United are, let alone champions Chelsea.
The Spanish goalkeeper has been outstanding for the past five years and still only has one Premier League title to show for it.
He’s not even been able to showcase his talents in the Champions League in two of the last three seasons.
At the age of 26, he has his career ahead of him – but could justifiably wonder if his talent is being wasted at Old Trafford.
A new contract will make him even more wealthy than he already is, but he does not need to worry about money.
Any decision he makes this summer should be based solely on ambition.
It is up to Mourinho to convince him United are heading in the right direction, despite the very real possibility of finishing even lower down the table than they did under his predecessor Louis van Gaal.
Any argument Mourinho puts forward will be weighed up against the alternative – in this case Real. The same Real who are 90 minutes away from becoming the first club to successfully defend the Champions League. The same Real who have reached three of the past four finals in Europe’s premier competition. If De Gea is looking to realise his ambitions and guarantee his place on the biggest stage, he need look no further than the Bernabeu. And that’s before taking into consideration the chance to return to his homeland to be with his partner Edurne Garcia. The odds are already stacked against Mourinho coming up with the words to convince him to stay. Denying him the chance to win some silverware, is hardly going to help matters. It would be harsh on Romero, who has done little wrong. But Mourinho is paid to make such difficult decisions. Make the wrong one now and he can hardly complain if De Gea heads for the exit.