Mourinho to keep ‘hurt’ captain out of firing line
Jose Mourinho is set to keep ‘hurt’ Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney ‘out of the firing line’ on Monday night when his side play Liverpool at Anfield.
Mourinho has dropped struggling Rooney to the bench in the last 3 games, and the star received a further blow this week when he was dropped by England interim manager Gareth Southgate during the international break for the game against Slovenia, after being booed by his own fans in the game against Malta last Saturday.
‘I think what you could hurt, you did already,’ said Mourinho.
‘I don’t think you can do more. So I think in this moment it is time for him to recover from what was done to him and the best place for him to do that is feeling like he feels at home here.’
However, the United boss expects Rooney to prove his critics wrong, adding: ‘I’m not saying that he is low. You can hurt me but you can’t put me down — I think he’s the same.’
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
