Man United head of development blasts ‘myth’ about Jose’s treatment of youngsters

Some still consider Jose Mourinho’s time at Old Trafford to be a failure despite the fact that the Portuguese coach was the most successful person to sit in the Manchester United hot-seat since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Mourinho won a League Cup and the Europe League during his time at Old Trafford and guided United to a second-place finish in the league, with Jose himself being insistent that he did his job at Manchester United (Sky Sports).

Another accusation that often does the rounds is that Mourinho didn’t fit into Manchester United’s ethos in terms of bringing through young players (Gary Neville, Sky Sports).

However, former United midfielder, Nicky Butt, who worked under Mourinho as head of the academy, has now busted that myth.

Speaking to MUTV, Butt said: “I think it’s harsh on van Gaal and Mourinho, and David Moyes to a point, because they didn’t come into Man United and go this is it, move it all to one side, disrespect Man United and we’ll do it this way.

“They didn’t. They never did – it’s a myth that they did.

“Mourinho was brilliant with me. He spoke to me every single day at breakfast and asked about the kids. He did a few meetings with the kids when they were going to Portugal [in the UEFA Youth League] and telling them what to expect and so on.”

Unsurprisingly, Mourinho has continued to attract some extremely harsh criticism since taking over at Tottenham, with everything from his tactical decisions (ESPN FC) and his handling of the players (talkSPORT) being questioned.

Spurs Web Opinion

It is clear that many football purists have an irrational hatred of Mourinho’s philosophy as well as the way in which he conducts himself. Many of these people are prominent in media and they will continue to treat the Tottenham boss unfairly. Even during his short time at Spurs so far, it is clear that Mourinho is treated differently to other managers in the game.

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