Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said he did not have the same kind of support at the club during his 2-1/2 year tenure as current Old Trafford boss Erik ten Hag.
The 61-year-old Portuguese, who last managed Serie A side AS Roma before being sacked in January, was fired by United in December 2018 following a series of dismal results having won the League Cup and Europa League in the 2016-17 season.
Mourinho, who has also managed Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, added that there were still a few players at United who he did not want when he was there.
“What Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust,” Mourinho told The Telegraph. “So I left sad because I felt I was in the beginning of the process.
“In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience, things could be different.
“There are a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension.
“But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”
Under Ten Hag, United ended a six-year trophy drought last season by winning the League Cup after the Dutchman joined the club from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022
Mourinho, who is presently without a club, said there was still a long way to go in his managerial career.
“It is not like I am 61 and I want to stop at 65,” he said. “No way at all. There is still a long career to go.”