Rio Ferdinand has apologised to Jose Mourinho, over comments the former Manchester United manager made about his time at Old Trafford.
Things at United are at their lowest ebb in a long time, with the club set to finish on their worst points tally in the history of the Premier League.
The last time it was even close to being as bad a mood at United was when Mourinho was sacked back in 2018, following a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, with Paul Pogba left on the bench as things turned typically sour for the manager.
Advert
Mourinho then left people questioning his sincerity a year later when he claimed that his time at the 13 times Premier League champions was one of his best jobs.
"If I tell you, for example, that I consider one of the best jobs of my career was to finish second with Manchester United in the Premier League, you will say, 'this guy is crazy,'" he told beIN Sports.
"I keep saying this because people don't know what is going on behind the scenes."
Advert
With the past few years exposing the full extent of the issues with the team, Ferdinand has now admitted that the Roma boss might have been right all along, and apologised for doubting him.
"I think Jose Mourinho ’s quote has aged so, so well. And me for one, I would apologise maybe to some extent in terms of the way you kind of looked at him and judged him," the former centre back said on his YouTube channel.
"I still think there were flaws in some of the ways he handled people and handled some of the situations that he was involved in.
"But in terms of looking behind the scenes, that [quote] he said in 2019 on finishing second in the Premier League, that has aged so well.
Advert
"We can see that there’s been stuff going on that’s wrong behind the scenes, but at that time we didn’t know the extent of it. Obviously Jose Mourinho did.
"He wanted to get rid of numerous players and he wanted to bring in certain players, and obviously big wages and contracts were handed out to certain players and he’s thinking, 'Woah, woah, woah, what’s going on?!'"
United finished 19 points off Manchester City when Mourinho took them to second place in 2018 and last season they were also runners up to City, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but were still far short of their rivals.
Advert
Behind the scenes things haven't improved much in the three and a half years since the former Chelsea boss left the north west of England.
Even interim manager Ralf Rangnick recently complained that he wasn't able to get the signings he wanted back in January, when he requested a striker.
The mood in the camp hasn't improved either, with Jesse Lingard, a player who should have been sold last summer, complaining about not getting a send off in front of the home fans.
Gary Neville explained why the player's moaning was wide of the mark though, talking about former legends who weren't just given game time.
Topics: Jose Mourinho, Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United, Premier League
Ryan Sidle