Claudio Ranieri has become the latest Premier League manager to bury the hatchet with Jose Mourinho, with the Italian describing his feud with the Manchester United boss as “prehistoric” ahead of Leicester City’s trip to Old Trafford on Sunday (NZT).
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A 3-1 win over Northampton Town in the League Cup on Wednesday prevented a fourth consecutive defeat, but it was not an entirely convincing United performance against the third-tier outfit.
Man United come into this game on the back of form which has led to criticsm of the team itself and his management of it, which Mourinho has already lashed out against by sarcastically calling them “Football Einsteins”.
“But that’s the new football, it’s full of Einsteins”, he said.
On the other hand, Leicester, who started their season with a defeat at Hull City are back on track after beating Club Brugge 3-0 in their Champions League tie and Burnley in their Premier League fixture last Saturday.
Simon Brotherton: “Three league defeats in a row is nearly unthinkable for Jose Mourinho and has only happened once before in his managerial career, but he’ll need to find a better formula than the one used at Vicarage Road a week ago to avoid it happening this weekend”.
“If the fans have been disappointed with the last week, I understand completely but I am sure they will be behind the team like they always are”.
United captain Wayne Rooney has shrugged off the criticism he has received in the past few months, insisting that a lot of it is “rubbish”.
Rooney, meanwhile, has vowed to shut out the critics and battle hard for United.
“I always said since day one that my title ambitions were motivational factors, I don’t believe you can be at this club and say different”, Mourinho explained.
“The worst manager in the history of football”, Mourinho said of himself, sarcastically, on Friday. They can’t coach, they can’t be on the bench, they can’t win matches.
Neither Leicester nor Manchester United have found their rhythm six weeks into the new season with the league champions lying 11th and the Red Devils in 7th. “I’ve worked hard and tried to do my best for the team”. “We are playing against good teams”. “We can show again what we want to do”.
The caller also suggested that Rooney long footballing career – he made his Premier League debut at 16 – was also a factor in his declining form.
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“We tried to play as quick as possible, one, two touches, I think the team needed that today because they were going to press a lot”.
