Matic on Mourinho’s sacking: The Manchester United midfielder has finally spoken about the departure of Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United parted ways with Jose Mourinho last week, two days after their 3-1 loss to Liverpool. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as the caretaker manager till the end of the season, and started his tenure on a bright note as Manchester United registered an emphatic 5-1 win over Cardiff City.
Mourinho won three trophies during his at Manchester United, but his third season at the club was marred by multiple controversies, including a fall-out with the dressing room.
As a result, Manchester United are currently at 6th in the Premier League table, and until the departure of the Portuguese manager, were 11 points off the top 4.
Nemanja Matic, who was signed by Jose Mourinho in his second season at the club, has now spoken about his departure.
Nemanja Matic on Mourinho’s sacking:
The Serbian midfielder has stated that the players at Manchester United must take responsibility for poor performances on the pitch.
When the midfielder was asked if the players were responsible for the situation at the club, Matic said, “Of course. I said this also after the Liverpool game, that we have to take responsibility and do our best to play better and to win games.
“I don’t know (what changed at Cardiff). This is the question no-one has an answer to but we are sure this is the way to continue, to fight and we will try to do it.”
Shaw: “It’s not nice when something as big as that (Mourinho’s sacking) happens at the club, but I think we, as players and as a team, show respect in what happened. People might be quick to forget what Jose did for #mufc – the three trophies he won – he did a lot.” #mulive [sky]
— utdreport (@utdreport) December 23, 2018
Matic stated that the manager was not the only one at fault, and the team is equally to blame for the poor results throughout the season.
“This is football. In football this happens. We know also it’s not only the manager’s fault when the results are not good.
“But this is football and we have to carry on, to fight for the club.”
Earlier, Paul Pogba also thanked Jose Mourinho after the game against Cardiff City. The fall-out in relationship between the duo was one of the major headlines throughout the season, and the situation became worse after they were caught arguing during a training session.
Luke Shaw, meanwhile said that Mourinho must be respected for his achievements at the club.
Rooney: “These players can’t turnaround and say ‘I didn’t perform well because I didn’t have a good relationship with Mourinho’ – thats not acceptable, they have a duty to Man United, to the fans, to the football club to try and perform as well as they can every game.” #mufc [BT]
— Man Utd Empire (@Empire_Mu) December 23, 2018
“It’s not very nice when something as big as that happens at the club,” Shaw said. “We all as players and as a team need to show respect.
“People might be quick to forget what Jose did for United, with the three trophies. He did a lot. One of the trophies (Europa League) was one we hadn’t won before. He took us to three trophies in sort of one season.
“So people need to respect him and remember what he did, not only for us as a team to win those trophies but for the fans as well.”
