Wayne Rooney slams Jose Mourinho for treating Manchester United’s youngsters like they ‘don’t exist

Written by sidhanta

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has criticized Jose Mourinho for treating the club’s academy as if it ‘didn’t exist during his time at Old Trafford.

The Roma boss spent two and a half years at the Theatre of Dreams following his appointment in 2016 and Rooney was his captain for his debut campaign at the club.

Mourinho’s appointment represented a departure from the club’s traditions but it was considered necessary at the time when Manchester City had just appointed Pep Guardiola.

The Portuguese coach won the Europa League and League Cup in his debut season but things quickly soured from then on, with Mourinho departing less than 18 months later after falling out with the board.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had to heal a fractured dressing room and was appointed because he vowed to return the club to its traditions.

And Rooney says Mourinho was guilty of only focusing on the first team, which made everyone else at the club feel like they didn’t exist.

‘The distance between the academy and the first team and the manager, especially under Mourinho, was huge,’ Rooney said on Monday Night Football.

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