Roma boss, Jose Mourinho has leapt to Wayne Rooney’s defence after the ex-Manchester United striker admitted to wanting “to hurt” Chelsea players.
Rooney revealed he wore longer studs than usual when United travelled to Stamford Bridge in 2006, knowing only a win would prevent the Blues from winning the Premier League.
Mourinho was managing Chelsea at the time and they beat United 3-0, to clinch back-to-back league titles.
Rooney said:
“I changed my studs before the game. I put longer studs in because I wanted to hurt someone.”
“If Chelsea won a point, they won the league. At the time, I couldn’t take it. The studs were legal, they were a legal size, but they were bigger than what I would normally wear.”
However, Mourinho has empathised with Rooney’s anger which led to the decision to wear the longer studs.
Mourinho said:
“Probably some people will say, ‘Wow, that’s not a very nice thing to do, to feel or to say.’
“But for football people like me we look at it from a different perspective.
“He’s just a young guy who is upset and frustrated, and who doesn’t accept to lose a title for the second time [in a row], which for me means a lot in relation to the character.”
