Jose Mourinho talks Man United and reveals why he could never become a 'puppet' at Old Trafford

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Tom Doyle15 May 2019

Jose Mourinho believes that they key to his coaching success was also the reason for his eventual downfall at Manchester United.

Mourinho won the Europa League and EFL Cup during his first season in charge and finished second in the Premier League in 2018, but was sacked in December after a dismal start to the latest campaign.

The Portuguese coach is well known for his intense approach, and has fought off accusations that his teams suffer from a so-called 'third-season syndrome', with Mourinho only reaching a fourth campaign once in his career.

However, in an interview with L'Equipe, Mourinho has not necessarily rejected the observation made by fans and pundits alike that he lost the faith of the dressing room at United last year.

Still, the former FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss feels that his style of management at United meant there was little goodwill left when results dried up.

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"Generally, the players can feel a certain erosion, especially when you ask a lot of them," he said. "When I say that the second season was fantastic, I say it because the potential and the objectives were met.

"I really squeezed, like an orange, to achieve them. When you have a very professional group of players who are ambitious, hard-working and talented, at a structured club, you don't have that erosion.

"When you are almost alone, in that you don't have the support of the club close to you, while certain players go somewhat against the coach, who is the nice guy.

"I don't want to be the nice guy, because the nice guy, after three months, is a puppet and that doesn't end well."

Those comments could be construed as a swipe at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who came in as temporary manager following Mourinho's sacking.

Solskjaer brought a fresh approach and lifted a lot of the gloom by winning 10 of his first 11 games, but form then deserted him after being appointed full-time.

United won just two of their last nine League games and finished in sixth, outside the Champions League positions.

Regarding his second-placed finish in 2017-18, Mourinho said: "I said nine or 10 months ago that after winning eight championships, finishing second with United may have been my greatest achievement. Now people understand.

"About United I want to say only two things: One is that time has spoken. Two is that the problems are still there."

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Mourinho reportedly had his differences with record signing Paul Pogba, but he insists the problems at the club go far deeper than the France midfielder.

He said: "The problems are there, you can say that these are the players, the organisation, the ambition. I only say that I cannot say 'yes' when you ask if Paul was the only one responsible."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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