This seems a bit unnecessary.
Jose Mourinho has used his final programme notes of the season to take a dig at a certain television pundit. The Manchester United manager doesn’t refer to the pundit by name, but he appears to have an issue with Graeme Souness.
Souness criticised United’s performance against Southampton in the goalless draw earlier this week.
The former Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers manager was also critical of Mourinho’s complaints about fixture congestion, saying that playing so many games in a season is the norm for a top team, competing on several fronts.
Souness made some great points https://t.co/SVX4FqhQNW
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) May 19, 2017
“We’ve all done it, we’ve all been there,” Souness said on Sky Sports on Wednesday night.
“It’s the price on the ticket if you’re winning trophies. If you get to the later stages of European cups, you have to deal with it. It’s nothing new in football.”
Souness also said that Mourinho is effectively “handing an excuse” to the United players for bad performances by constantly complaining about the number of games the team have had to play.
The criticism seemed fair by the former Newcastle United manager.
Souness played in a Liverpool team in the 1970s and 1980s that won three European Cups, five league titles and four League cups. So, he has experience of competing on several fronts each season, and disagreed with Mourinho’s view of playing so many games.
United fans might be able to blame LVG again if they lose on Wednesday night… https://t.co/tjH0qppAVJ
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) May 20, 2017
However, Mourinho hasn’t taken the criticism well, and used his programme notes for the game against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, United’s 63rd match of the season, to hit back.
The former Chelsea manager accused a certain pundit of being biased, and took a dig at his managerial career.
“I have seen in the football media that certain pundits cannot understand why our players are tired,” Mourinho wrote.
“A pundit is not honest if they cannot forget their colours or if they try to hide the truth from their audience. It’s not my fault if their managerial career was very poor.”
Mourinho: 'A pundit is not honest if they cannot forget their colours… It's not my fault if their managerial career was very poor.' #MUFC pic.twitter.com/X54x7JyUZP
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) May 21, 2017
Mourinho better hope Souness doesn’t respond by comparing their respective playing careers.
