Gary Neville has been left exasperated upon hearing about Jose Mourinho's treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger, in the latest episode of The Overlap.
Schweinsteiger was one of the biggest names in football throughout the 2000s and 2010s, as he racked up plenty of silverware with Bayern Munich as well as the 2014 World Cup with Germany.
The playmaker joined Manchester United to the delight of their fans in the summer of 2015, and while he showed flashes of quality at Old Trafford, it soon became clear that his best days were behind him.
Injuries blighted Schweinsteiger's first campaign at United, and when Jose Mourinho took the managerial reins in 2016, the German was banished from the first team altogether, before finally being allowed to move to the MLS with Chicago Fire in March of 2017.
"They kicked you out of the dressing room?!"@BSchweinsteiger shocks @GNev2 by revealing Murtough told him he couldn't train with the first team under Mourinho 🤯 pic.twitter.com/cgHdGxyLc6
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 18, 2024
Schweinsteiger reflects on Jose Mourinho relationship
Schweinsteiger has been reflecting on this difficult period of his career with Neville, who appeared shocked as he was told about Mourinho's treatment of the player during the 2016 pre-season.
"When I walked in, [then-head of football development] John Murtough was there and he said 'you're not allowed to walk into the dressing room,'" explained Schweinsteiger.
"He said 'the coach said so'. No warning, nothing. Someone could have told me, or explained it to me in a normal way. But okay, I went to the youth dressing room, I changed there.
"I had to ask him to bring me my cleats and training gear. I asked 'who aim I training with?' and he said 'there's the under-16 team,' so I trained with the under-16 team."
🚨 @BSchweinsteiger 🚨
✍️ Signing For Man United
🇳🇱 Football Under Van Gaal
🤬 Kicked Out The Dressing Room
🇵🇹 Being Managed By Mourinho
💭 Dreams Of Retiring At Old Trafford
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich Success
Watch now on YouTube and listen on all major podcast platforms.— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 18, 2024
Gary Neville left stunned by Schweinsteiger revelation
As Schweinsteiger is speaking, Neville repeatedly interjects to ensure that he is hearing the story correctly, and looks more and more shocked as it goes on.
It was common knowledge at the time that Schweinsteiger had been banished but the reasons why have never been made clear. For his part, Mourinho stated at the time of the player's departure that he regretted the way he had treated him.
"I was not right with you once, I have to be right with you now," Mourinho told reporters at the time.
"So when he was asking me to let him leave I had to say ‘yes’ you can leave because I did it once, I cannot do it twice. So I feel sorry for the first period with him, he knows that. I am happy that he knows because I told him. I will miss a good guy, a good professional, a good influence in training – a very good influence.”
Same old issues at Man United
While this all played out seven to eight years ago, it's another example of United's post-Alex Ferguson failings coming to light.
They paid Bayern Munich €9 million for an extremely talented and experienced player, and someone who Van Gaal trusted from their days together in Germany.
For the next manager to then ignore him and allow his value asset to depreciate, points to the usual haphazard approach at Old Trafford, and not much has changed since.
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