JOSE HITS THE BLUFFERS
Mourinho’s new dig at United flops
JOSE MOURINHO has launched yet another attack on his Manchester United flops by claiming: “Some care more than others.”
And he accused some of them of pretending they are bothered about an early-season crisis that has put his job on the line.
Mourinho, whose side take on Valencia in the Champions League tonight, did not name
names but knows his remarks would be seen as a thinly-veiled attack on French pair Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.
Both were both hauled off in the defeat at West Ham, with United making their worst start to a season for 29 years.
Asked about the reaction in training following Saturday’s debacle, Mourinho said: “Every
player is different. I see different reactions but sometimes what you see is not really what is inside.
“I see sad people and I see people who do not look like they lost a game. I see so-so.
“You can be laughing and be the saddest person in the world. And you can have a very sad face and you can be a fantastic actor and inside you are very happy, so sometimes what you see is not what you got. I think that some care more than others.
“I may be naive but I still don’t believe that a player is not honest.
“I ask people with a great reputation in the game, ask them if at any time in their career they went to a game not to give the maximum, not to help the club, not to make the fans happy, not to try to give his best. Ask them.
“And if somebody tells me, ‘I was a football player and in one occasion I didn’t give my best’, then I change my opinion.
“Until then I will always believe that the players are honest.”
That belief will be put to the test against Valencia. But if United fail to win for a fourth successive game the pressure will intensify amid speculation Zinedine Zidane is being lined up as a replacement, reports denied by the club.
Asked if his job was on the line, Mourinho said: “No, I don’t think.”
As for reports that Zidane – who quit after winning a hat-trick of Champions League titles at Real Madrid – had phoned him to reassure him he was not actively seeking his job, he pointed to the reporter who wrote the story and jokingly said: “He put a bug on my telephone, so why don’t you ask him?”