It’s hard to tell if Jose Mourinho is actually after Wayne Rooney and wants to sign the Manchester United player, or perhaps the Chelsea manager is only after one thing – getting under the skin of David Moyes.
In his latest pick of words to unsettle the newly minted Manchester United manager, Mourinho decided to direct the blame at the whole Rooney ordeal at Moyes himself. How?
According to Mourinho, blaming him for unsettling the player is pointing the blame in the wrong direction. Moyes created this whole mess by declaring the Wayne Rooney is a second option to Robin van Persie, hence it shouldn’t surprise him that teams are going after Rooney.
I didn’t say to Rooney you will be a second-choice for me. We are trying to get a player that a manager told ‘You will be a second option’ for him. We are not going for Van Persie. If I say Ramires is a second option for me and he plays when Lampard is tired or injured, if someone comes here to get Ramires, nobody is upset.
The annoying thing about what Mourinho says in this case is that he’s right. David Moyes hasn’t handled the whole transfer ordeal very well. Not adding players to Manchester United, not by holding on to Wayne Rooney while trying to sway him from wanting to leave. Using him off the bench against Swansea (with Rooney finishing with two assists) wasn’t the smartest of moves as well in terms of personal relations between the two.
Tactically, Moyes knows what he’s doing. And that is what Mourinho is trying to go after. He’s hoping that if he can find that sweet spot that makes Moyes lose his concentration due to the man he’s facing, and maybe let all this talking about his failed handling of the transfer policy get to his decision making when it comes to football on the pitch.