JOSE PUT BLOCK ON FITNESS LEAK
England barred from United info
JOSE MOURINHO banned England from having crucial information about the fitness of his players.
The Manchester United boss binned an agreement allowing the Three Lions’ coaching staff to see performance and fitness data about Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Chris Smalling.
Starsport understands Mourinho was concerned about boss Gareth Southgate’s camp having staff who also worked for United’s Premier League rivals, including assistant Steve Holland, then assistant first-team coach at Chelsea.
He feared sensitive information could fall into the wrong hands, although there is no suggestion it actually happened.
Southgate has responded to Mourinho’s concerns by ending the England tradition of having staff who double-up with the international team.
Holland has just left the title-winning Blues to concentrate solely on his role as England No.2.
Worries
The information-sharing agreement was clinched before last summer’s Euro 2016 in France, under previous boss Roy Hodgson.
The two senior medical figures who were then working with the squad – FA head of medical services Dr Ian Beasley and Gary Lewin, the chief physio – reached agreement with Premier League clubs to share their data for the first time.
Statistics on training and matches, as well as the injury wear and tear on the players over the season, were made available by top-flight clubs for the first time.
Ex-Arsenal physio Lewin and Beasley left England after the Euros and Sam Erith, Manchester City’s head of human performance, no longer works with the national team.
Mark Sertori, also of City, and Arsenal’s Takahiro Yamamoto – who both were part of England’s medical set-up – have also have left Southgate’s team.
That means there is now no one in the England set-up working for another club.
There had also been worries about the potential for tapping-up within the England camp if employees who also worked for Premier League clubs were in the set-up.
Boss Southgate yesterday made light of suggestions of any friction with Mourinho.
“It helps us in terms of preparing our training,” he said. “But one of the dangers is the perception of it being leaked.”