ON MOURINHO THEY SPEAK
LIVERPOOL MANAGER JUERGEN KLOPP
“He’s a very competitive guy, very ambitious. He has all my respect, he has had unbelievable success. I can imagine the last few months were not a joy for anybody, especially him... It’s not nice if you face these questions every day.
“Nobody can take away all the things he won. I hope he has that in his mind when he leaves and not the few other things that happened. He is an outstanding manager.”
ARSENAL MANAGER UNAI EMERY
“The only thing I can say to you is I was surprised – and it is not good news because, when one coach finishes his work like that, it’s not good for other coaches. It is not good news but I don’t know a lot as to why this decision happened.”
FORMER UNITED DEFENDER RIO FERDINAND
“I was one of his biggest advocates when he joined Man United and felt he stabilised our club when we needed it... You can’t ignore what Jose has achieved as a manager previously, but I feel the time has come for fresh ideas at MUFC.”
FORMER ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL GARY LINEKER
“With United 19 points behind Liverpool after 17 games, with the vast majority of players playing way below their best... and dour football to boot.
“Given Mourinho was allowed to spend hundreds of millions on those players, the split seemed inevitable.
“Would imagine one of the main reasons for sacking Mourinho now would be to stop the attempted mass exodus of their best players next month.”
FORMER MAN UTD, LIVERPOOL AND ENGLAND STRIKER MICHAEL OWEN
“Inevitable is the word I’d use. Mourinho was simply not getting anywhere near enough out of his players.”
FORMER LIVERPOOL BOSS GRAEME SOUNESS
“I think he would have known this was coming. I’m not surprised... with the money he has spent and how the players are playing... I said on Sunday, I couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel for them. I was at Bournemouth two weeks ago. I’m a season ticket holder there. My season ticket is 10 rows behind the dugout, and I saw a man who didn’t want to be there.”
FORMER LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER JAMIE REDKNAPP
“If you were looking to go to a club and do everything wrong and get the sack, you would do what he’s done.
“He stayed in a hotel... as a manager you shouldn’t be going to a hotel every day because it sends the wrong message.
“The style of play wasn’t right, United fans want to see their team play with flair. Falling out with the players and the board. It’s been inevitable since the Brighton game, everything was wrong.”
FORMER UNITED DEFENDER PATRICE EVRA
“The thing that is annoying me the most right now is why are people so focused on Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho. Let’s focus on rebuilding something solid instead of being in a playground. Doing this is only disrespecting the badge, from now we only need positivity.”