Jose Mourinho was on Tuesday finally unveiled as the new Manchester United coach, replacing the sacked Louis Van Gaal.
As expected, there was no shortage of controversies as the Portuguese manager gave United fans a pinch of what to expect in his time at Old Trafford.
Here are five takeaways from the engaging encounter.
- Ryan Giggs’ departure
Mourinho was partly blamed for the exit of club legend, Ryan Giggs, who left the club after 29 years and this was how he reacted:
“As for Ryan: it’s not my responsibility that Ryan is not in the club. The job Ryan wanted was the Manchester United manager. That’s not my fault – the owners and Mr [Ed] Woodward wanted me. Ryan, for the moment, wants to be a manager.”
- Dig at Arsene Wenger
Mourinho wasted no time before taking a pop at old foe, Arsene Wenger, when asked about the pressures of managing the Red Devils.
“There are some managers who won the title 10 years ago, some have not won a title ever. The last time I won the title was one year ago, so if I have something to prove, imagine the others.”
- Academy players
If there is one criticism that is often levied at Mourinho it is that he doesn’t promote young players. He replied his critics by asking:
“Do you want to know how many players I have promoted from academies? Forty nine. Do you want me to list them out?”
- The Rooney dilemma
There’s always that argument about where is Wayne Rooney best role in the United team and the former Chelsea boss shared his thought too.
“It is normal that a player at his age will change a little bit. One thing that will never change is his natural appetite to put the ball in the net. Maybe he is not a striker, not a No9 anymore. He will be a No9, a No10, a No9.5 but never a No6 or a No8.”
- Ferguson’s advice
Even from their time as opposing managers, Mourinho has always enjoyed a great rapport with United legend, Sir Alex Ferguson, and it looks as though his time off from football has done nothing to hamper that relationship.
When asked about what Ferguson gave him, Mourinho said there was two main things. “Bring the umbrella. Yesterday it was raining at the training ground – good advice. The second was for me to bring my typical bottle of wine because there will be many more opportunities to drink it together.”
