Danny Murphy claims Jose Mourinho had an ulterior motive when substituting Juan Mata.
The Manchester United manager took Mata off in the dying minutes of the team’s 2-1 victory over Leicester City in the Community Shield game on Sunday, having subbed him into the game less than 30 minutes earlier.
Jose Mourinho explains why he substituted Juan Mata https://t.co/NA67ePi59o
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 8, 2016
Mourinho said after the game that his decision was purely tactical, that he substituted Mata because Leicester were bombarding United’s goal with aerial balls, and he wanted a taller presence for the final few minutes.
Mata, who is 5’7, was therefore withdrawn for 5’10 Henrik Mkhitaryan.
However, BBC pundit Murphy isn’t buying Mourinho’s reasoning, and argued that the substitution is a sign that the United boss is attempting to push the Spanish playmaker out of Old Trafford.
Mata joined United in January 2014 from Chelsea, after losing his place in the first-team when Mourinho was manager. Murphy predicts history to repeat itself at United.
“You don’t do that unless you are trying to send a message,” the former Liverpool midfielder told the BBC.
“They have a lot of history at Chelsea and he has embarrassed him in front of his supporters and his family.
“He is basically saying to him ‘you are not important’ and he has done it publicly. I can’t see him still being at the club at the end of August.”
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