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Wayne Rooney says he was surprised by Jose Mourinhos poor man management

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There was a lack of communication between manager and players (Picture: Getty)

Wayne Rooney says he was surprised by how poor Jose Mourinho was at communicating with his players and the silent treatment he received from his manager played a role in his departure from Manchester United.

The Portuguese coach was sacked last Tuesday having overseen Uniteds worst start to a Premier League season in 28 years, and the side responded with a 5-1 win over Cardiff City on Saturday evening.

Mourinho was criticised for a complete breakdown in his relationship with the dressing room, and Rooney says there was tension even when he was still at the club 18 months ago.

United got their season back on track by hitting five past Cardiff (Picture: Getty)

In my opinion, obviously being there for a year with him, he didnt [keep players onside], Rooney explained on BT Sport.

And I think that was the one surprise I had, the communication with the players wasnt as much as it could have been.

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And I think when you leave a player out of a game, sometimes, for a player, it gives a bit of freedom of the mind when the manager says Im leaving you out for this reason or for that reason.

But the players didnt get that, and I think thats the most difficult thing for a player to try and work out why youre not playing.

I think the big thing with Jose was the communication with the players, and I know the players werent happy with him.

Mourinho famously fell out with the likes of Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw (Picture: Getty)

Asked if Mourinho ever said anything about why he dropped Rooney, the 33-year-old old continued: Nothing in detail. There was nothing like, “Youre not doing this, youre not doing that”, so youre not given something to go and work on and make yourself better at those certain things.

I knew Zlatan was one of his big signings, Zlatan came in and was scoring goals, and I maybe wasnt playing at the level I knew I could do so I knew that was the reason. And that was more or less what made my mind up to go and play elsewhere.

Rooney was on punditry duty during Saturdays thumping of Cardiff (Picture: BT Sport)

Asked if he had to reassure players in his role as captain, Rooney explained: As captain you have to. Players are upset, players want answers from the manager – or they want answers from someone. And you have to try and give an answer that keeps them happy.

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And that was what was difficult for me, being captain, not playing in the games but then driving into training, feeling down, feeling low, Im not playing, Im not involved, but having to put a happy face on to not let it affect other players.

Myself and Michael Carrick in particular, we were the last of our generation, we tried our best to help the players, but ultimately you want answers off the manager. We can only give them so much. The real answers have to come from the manager.