‘Crazy and a massive risk’ – Rooney gives his take on Mourinho sacking

Wayne Rooney has claimed that Daniel Levy has taken a massive risk by sacking Jose Mourinho less than a week before the Carabao Cup final.

Since Mourinho was brought into Spurs to help the club get over the line and win silverware, it did come as a surprise that the Tottenham chairman decided to pull the plug on the Portuguese coach so close to next Sunday’s clash against Manchester City.

Rooney admitted that he saw Mourinho as the ideal man to overcome Pep Guardiola’s side on a one-off game and expressed his bewilderment at the timing of the decision.

The Derby County said (The Daily Mail): “I think it’s crazy doing it before a cup final.

“It’s strange timing anyway. Surely they could have waited until after the cup final if that’s the direction they wanted to go in.

“Mourinho is a manager who loves winning trophies, that’s quite clear to see. He’s won a lot of trophies throughout his career.

“If there was one manager to set up a team to play against Man City in a cup final it’s Jose Mourinho.

“Tottenham haven’t had the best of seasons so from that point of view so it’s crazy and a massive risk.

“I’m sure Daniel Levy could have waited until the day after the game, that would have made more sense if they wanted to get rid of Mourinho.”

Spurs confirmed today that Ryan Mason will take over as the interim head coach until the end of the season, supported by Chris Powell and Nigel Gibbs while Michel Vorm takes over as interim goalkeeping coach and Ledley King remains in his current role.

Levy will be hoping that Mourinho’s departure will spark a reaction from the squad and the experienced Rooney admitted he would not be surprised to see the players responding.

He said: “I’ve been there myself. Some players will get encouragement from the decision and some players will be upset. It’s purely down to each player individually.

“What happens a lot of times when a manager gets sacked and someone comes in, and a lot of times you get a good reaction.”

Rooney, who was managed by Mourinho during his final season at Old Trafford, insisted that there will be no shortage of takers for his former boss.

He added: “Jose is a fantastic manager. One of the best managers the game has seen. Unfortunately, his time has come to an end at Tottenham but I’m sure he’ll bounce back and I’m sure there will be a lot of top clubs out there looking to bring him in.

“It’s purely up to him if he wants to come into another club in England, I’m sure there are a lot of clubs around the world who would love to have him.”

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know