Jose Mourinho reportedly held a heated private meeting with Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney during a training session.
Mourinho dropped Rooney from his Manchester United team for their 4-1 thrashing of Leicester on Saturday.
Paul Pogba particularly impressed as United scored four in a stunning first-half display with Rooney watching on from the sidelines.
According to some latest reports United captain has no intention to leave Old Trafford despite facing a battle to get back into Mourinho’s side long term.
And The Sun claim Mourinho held talks with Rooney to tell him to sort his own form out before lecturing his team-mates.
It is said Mourinho held a private meeting with the 30-year-old at United’s Carrington training ground about addressing other places.
Rooney apparently had some strong words for United’s players at half-time of their derby defeat to Manchester City – with the Red Devils 2-1 down at home.
But Mourinho explained in a heart-to-heart with Rooney he cannot have a go at other players when he is out of form himself.
The England international missed United’s defeat to Rotterdam that week but was poor in the 3-1 loss to Watford and a 3-1 win over Northampton before being dropped against Leicester.
Mourinho opted to flank lone striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard with Juan Mata in the No 10 role and Ander Herrera and Pogba in central midfield.
Manchester United responded with their best football of the season but Mourinho has publicly defended Rooney.
“He’s my man, I trust him completely,” the Portuguese boss said.
“He’s as happy as I am at this moment and that’s the team.
“He’s a big player for me, for United, a big player in this country.”
“When our main striker is Zlatan, we need fast people around him. Against Leicester, that was the best solution for us.”
Jose Mourinho, the man who dropped Rooney to the substitutes’ bench, Chris Smalling, the man who replaced him as captain, and even Claudio Ranieri, the manager whose side were dismantled by a revitalised, Rooney-less United, played down the significance of his absence.
Yet as he watched from the dugout as United got ruthless in their latest outing, Rooney must have known that while Saturday’s events might not have meant the ‘end of an era’, as some observers claim, they did represent the clearest threat ever to his position as a mainstay of the club.
Since joining United 12 years ago as a teenager, Rooney has been a marquee figure; a man to be relied upon in the biggest moments.
If Mourinho’s selection on Saturday did not spell the end of his United career, it certainly suggested a change of role.
Without their out-of-form leader, United looked quicker, more incisive, and better balanced. And the men who filled Rooney’s many possible positions all made excellent cases for keeping him on the bench.
At centre-forward, a slot where Rooney has enjoyed success, Zlatan Ibrahimovic marshalled United’s attacking play expertly.
In midfield, where his career had looked to be heading, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba, and Juan Mata set a tempo that has been lacking too often of late.
And out wide, where Rooney operated in a brief, late cameo, Marcus Rashford, and Jesse Lingard offered a pleasing injection of pace and energy.