Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said he did not have the same kind of support at the club during his 2-1/2 year tenure as current Old Trafford boss Erik ten Hag.

The 61-year-old Portuguese, who last managed Serie A side AS Roma before being sacked in January, was fired by United in December 2018 following a series of dismal results having won the League Cup and Europa League in the 2016-17 season.

Mourinho, who has also managed Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, added that there were still a few players at United who he did not want when he was there.

“What Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust,” Mourinho told The Telegraph. “So I left sad because I felt I was in the beginning of the process.

“In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience, things could be different.

“There are a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension.

“But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”

Under Ten Hag, United ended a six-year trophy drought last season by winning the League Cup after the Dutchman joined the club from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022.

United are seventh in the Premier League, with British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe having struck a long-awaited deal in December to buy a 25% stake in the club and take charge of soccer operations to try to revive their fortunes on the pitch.

Mourinho, who is presently without a club, said there was still a long way to go in his managerial career.

“It is not like I am 61 and I want to stop at 65,” he said. “No way at all. There is still a long career to go.”

-Reuters

Manchester United have kept their season alive by reaching the FA Cup final, but only by the skin of their teeth, and that has left manager Erik ten Hag under more intense pressure.

The Red Devils beat second-tier Coventry City 4-2 on penalties on April 21, after escaping a humiliating 4-3 defeat in extra time thanks to the VAR (video assistant referee) which ruled out their opponents’ goal for offside.

Ten Hag denied it was an embarrassment, preferring instead to focus on the achievement of reaching a second straight final against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who won 2-1 last season.

But as the attention turns to their English Premier League home clash against Sheffield United on April 24, many feel that the Dutchman’s tenure at Old Trafford has all but ended.

The 54-year-old appeared to be on an upward curve in his first season in charge in 2022-23, ending a six-year trophy drought by lifting the League Cup and finishing third in the Premier League.

But any lingering goodwill has all disappeared as United limp towards the end of the campaign.

The beleaguered club, who are realistically out of the running to qualify for next season’s Champions League, have not won any of their past five matches – and may even find it a challenge to take on bottom-side Sheffield.

In four of those winless games, including the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, they have carelessly tossed away winning positions in the final few minutes and they are paying a heavy price.

“With Man United you don’t know what you’re going to get. They are inconsistent, they give (opponents) chances… that’s what they tend to do,” said former United captain Roy Keane, who stopped short of criticising ten Hag.

“I don’t see character in this group of players, I’m getting to the stage where I’m almost disliking them.”

United are engaged in a wholesale shake-up of their backroom team under new minority investor Jim Ratcliffe, who must make a decision on whether he has seen enough from ten Hag to give him another chance.

Unlike Keane, there are other pundits who have ripped into the United boss.

Former Chelsea forward Chris Sutton believes the manner of United’s performance at Wembley has sealed the Dutchman’s fate, saying: “That performance will cement his sacking at the end of the season.”

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher felt the same, adding: “I think that result has just cost a Man United manager his job. I don’t see how he stays, I don’t.”

Ten Hag can point to a punishing list of injuries to his defenders but must also take some responsibility for the way several key players – including Casemiro, Marcus Rashford and Antony – have badly underperformed this season.

Gary Neville, another ex-United captain, said that reaching the FA Cup final had at least saved United and ten Hag an “absolute battering” from critics, but he could not be certain about the manager’s future.

“What we can say is that Erik ten Hag’s future is largely dependent on the FA Cup, as their performances in the league are gone,” he said.

Ten Hag must now prove he has what it takes, starting with Sheffield.

-AFP

Nigeria’s duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi are on course for Premier League action next season as  Leicester City took a huge step towards a Premier League return with a 2-1 home win over West Bromwich Albion but Southampton’s automatic promotion hopes are hanging by a thread after they lost by the same scoreline at Cardiff City on Saturday.

Wilfried Ndidi and Jamie Vardy were on target for Leicester, with Vardy also missing a penalty, as the Foxes edged past their Midlands rivals who are bound for the playoffs.

With three games remaining, Enzo Maresca’s Leicester team have 91 points, two ahead of second-placed Ipswich Town, while third-placed Leeds have 87.

Southampton could have moved level on points with Leeds but suffered a 2-1 defeat at Cardiff despite taking the lead.

Joe Aribo’s 12th-minute strike put the visitors ahead and they should have increased their lead.

But Saints were made to pay for wasteful finishing after the break as Famara Diedhiou equalised and Cian Ashford won it for Cardiff deep in stoppage time with a deflected shot.

Leicester host Southampton on Tuesday after Leeds visit Middlesbrough on Monday.