Mourinho admits he made ‘big mistake’ with he treated ex-Man Utd star

Lewis Oldham
Former Man United boss Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho admitted to former Manchester United star Bastian Schweinsteiger that he made a “big mistake” with how he treated the midfielder.

Schweinsteiger made the move to Man United in 2015. He had spent his entire career at Bayern Munich up until this point.

The midfielder was brought to the club by Louis van Gaal, who was replaced by Mourinho at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.


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Schweinsteiger played 18 times during his debut season. But he fell down the pecking order under Mourinho as he only played four games across all competitions in 2016/17.

The World Cup winner left Man United in 2017 as he joined MLS outfit Chicago Fire. He has told BBC Radio 5 Live that Mourinho apologised to him as his situation at United was “weird and difficult”:

“I didn’t play a lot [under Mourinho] unfortunately, but I still respect him. He’s a great manager who has won a lot of trophies. It was a weird and difficult situation, he never really explained to me why,” Schweinsteiger said.

“At the end of the day, it is in the past, it’s history. But I loved playing for United, the fans were absolutely amazing. I loved every single moment.

“In the first year under Louis van Gaal, until I got injured, when Leicester won the title, we were up there and battling for the first position.

“We were very successful, I think, even without big signings like Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] or Paul [Pogba]. We should have won much more with those big signings, except I couldn’t play with them.

“It was maybe because I played under Pep Guardiola and had played Pep Guardiola football, which he doesn’t like so much, I think. Still, I also liked how Mourinho was, actually, coaching.

“Of course the game style is different – I think that is why Zlatan left. It was not so much football, sometimes it was more direct. But he had success with his teams. It was just a strange feeling.

“I don’t think it was his personal opinion. At the end of the day, he apologised to me and said it was a big mistake. It was just too late. The decision, I think, was made before he actually arrived.”