FORMER Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has revealed he was once banned from the dressing room by Jose Mourinho.
The 39-year-old joined United in a £6.5million transfer from Bayern Munich in 2015 and spent two years at Old Trafford.
PA:Empics SportBastian Schweinsteiger was banned from the Man Utd dressing room[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationJose Mourinho ‘illegally’ axed the midfielder from the squad[/caption]
Schweinsteiger made 31 appearances during his first season with the Red Devils and subsequently earned a spot in Germany’s Euro 2016 squad.
But upon his return to Manchester for pre-season after the tournament he quickly found himself out of favour.
Speaking to Gary Neville for Sky Bet’s The Overlap, Schweinsteiger revealed Mourinho – who had just been appointed as manager – stopped him from entering the dressing room.
The former Germany captain said: “It was 2016 and I was with the German national team, we went far in the competition [Euro’s] reaching the semi-finals, so I stepped in a little later [at Man Utd] and the team were in the US for a pre-season tour.
“When I arrived on the first day, I trained with Zlatan Ibrahimović and thought it was great, a player who has the vision and is amazing to play with.
“The next day, on my birthday, when I walked into Carrington, John Murtough was there and said that I wasn’t allowed to walk into the dressing room, the coach had said so.
“No warning, nothing. I don’t know. Someone could have told me there or explained it to me in a normal way, but okay, I went to the youth dressing room and trained with the under 16s.
“Yes, completely [kicked me out of the first team dressing room], so I had to ask him [Murtough] to bring me my cleats and training gear.
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“I asked him who I was training with, and he said there was the under 16 team, so I went and trained with the under 16’s.”
Schweinsteiger went on to reveal the reason behind his dismissal, adding: “I asked him whether I could talk to the manager in the afternoon, so when I came back from training with the under 16s, where I trained so bad because I didn’t know what was going on or it was a joke, I then had a meeting with him [Mourinho] in the afternoon.
“He explained to me that he didn’t see me happy here at United because when I had my injury, I did my rehab with German doctors, spending time in Germany.
“Of course, I came back to United and was in contact with doctors and watched the games – I had a conversation with Louis van Gaal when he was coach, and he said to come on the weekends to United and remain in contact with the doctors, they needed me fit and there was an FA Cup final which I almost played.
“That was our agreement and I kept to it. For me, I just wanted to get healthy and wanted to be able to play – I stuck to the agreement with Louis van Gaal but obviously the board thought a little differently about that.”
After his meeting with Mourinho, the midfielder trained alone for at least three months with a fitness coach.
He was not allowed to be or train with the first team during his banishment.
Man Utd are LUCKY to be seventh in the table… one particular stat is terrible, say Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
THE frightening thing about Manchester United’s season is that they should really be LOWER than seventh in the Premier League.
Even during their current run of one win in seven league matches, United’s results have been better than their performances.
Erik ten Hag’s team deserved to lose each of their last three drawn games against Brentford, Liverpool and Bournemouth.
On goal difference, United are ninth in the league, while only seven teams have scored fewer than their 47 goals.
And if we give any credence to ‘expected points’, then that stat would have them 15th in the table.
If Ten Hag’s men lose Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final to Championship side Coventry, it should not come as a major surprise.
Click here to read Dave Kidd’s column in full.
To read more from Dave Kidd, click here.
United legend Neville was left stunned by Schweinsteiger’s exclusion, claiming it was “illegal” treatment.
He said: “That’s illegal. I was the PFA Union Representative, and you’re not allowed to do that, you can’t dismiss someone like that, it’s constructive dismissal in some ways.
“It’s probably a few years too late, you should have come and seen me at the time.
“I’m stunned and embarrassed at what I’m hearing because I always think, players leave clubs and people fall out, but there is a way to do things and a way to behave and act.”
Schweinsteiger left Man Utd in March 2017 to join Chicago Fire.
He made 92 appearances for the MLS side before retiring in October 2019.
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