Mourinho: ‘I Regret The Way I Treated Bastian Schweinsteiger’
Reuters / Phil Noble
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that he regrets the manner in which he treated midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Upon his arrival as the new Red Devils’ boss, Jose Mourinho banished the decorated German from the first team, and the 32-year-old was left to train with the reserves.
However, the Portuguese did end up resolving his issues with the former Bayern Munich man, as Schweinsteiger ended up making 4 appearances under Jose before making a switch to MLS outfit Chicago Fire.
And now, following the World Cup winner’s departure, Mourinho has offered his insight about his relationship with the player during these past 10 months.
Mourinho said in his press conference: “He is in the category of players I feel sorry for something that I did to him.
“I don’t want to speak about him as a player, I don’t want to speak about him as a player I would or would not buy. I want to speak about him as a professional, as a human being. It was the last thing I told him before he left – I was not right with you once, I have to be right with you now.
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“So when he was asking me to let him leave, I had to say yes, you can leave because I did it once, I cannot do it twice. So I feel sorry for the first period with him, he knows that, I am happy that he knows, because I told him. I will miss a good guy, a good professional, a very good influence in training.
“So I could not stop him to go, even though I know we have so many matches and probably would need him for a few matches or a few periods. But I had to let him go and now publicly wish him and his wife a very happy life in Chicago.”
The former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss was also asked if he regretted the way he treated Schweinsteiger, to which he replied: “I do, yeah. I would let him be in the squad. I knew in that moment we have too many players.
“If you remember, we had many players in this doubtful situation, we still had Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay Andreas Pereira, Tyler Blackett and James Wilson, a huge squad in the beginning.
“But after knowing him as a professional and as a person, the way he was behaving and the way he was respecting my decisions as a manager, yes I regret, and no problem for me admitting it and he knows that because I told him.
“I always say the second season is a season when the manager knows everything about the players. What I knew about him was a season full of injuries, a season where he almost didn’t play, a season where he was having treatment outside of the club, and I thought that was not right, the mentality was not right. He was the kind of player who I would not like to have in the club.
“In the second season I know everything that is going on. Now I am inside for 10 months and 10 months is a long time. The second season is where, from a managerial point of view, an easier season that the first.”