Shearer Says: “Man United sacking will damage Mourinho’s reputation”

Premier League legend gives Red Devils verdict

I was not surprised when I heard the news of Jose Mourinho’s dismissal at Manchester United yesterday. I said on Match of the Day on Sunday, something had to give at the club. They couldn’t just keep carrying on the way they were going.

That performance against their big rivals Liverpool on Sunday just summed up the way things have been for them recently. The players had stopped playing for him and it was inevitable that the manager would lose his job.

The same thing happened to Jose at Chelsea in that he had lost the dressing room. He has been given a fortune to spend over the last couple of years but he was not backed in the summer when he wanted a defender, therefore he was not going to be backed in January.

This latest sacking will damage the reputation of Mourinho. Management is very different now. You have to understand and accept how the modern players behave. With Jose, it seems to be that it needs to his way or the highway. That didn’t work at Chelsea and ultimately that has cost him his job at Manchester United.

I am sure he will be back in a big job very soon though. He has a nice pay-off and he can enjoy Christmas. Football is one of the few jobs where you can get it completely wrong and walk away with a big pay-off. Obviously he would have liked it to have worked at United but he will already be preparing for a return to management.

United have fallen a long way behind the big teams in the Premier League table and they could not sit back and allow that to continue. Huddersfield have conceded fewer goals than Man United this season.

It is absolutely unbelievable especially when you consider they have one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Only four teams, Cardiff, Burnley, Southampton and Fulham have conceded more than United this season, so clearly at the back they have been all over the place.

Although the manager has taken the flack, the big players at United really need to look at themselves. Sanchez, who they were battling with Manchester City to sign, is on £500,000 a week and he has hardly kicked a ball.