Mourinho: Rooney could not be more hurt by recent criticism

The out-of-favour striker is expected to be on the bench yet again for Monday night’s clash with Liverpool and his manager says he needs time to recover from recent events

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed Wayne Rooney is hurt by recent criticism after losing his place in the starting XI for club and country.

Mourinho dropped Rooney for the clash against Leicester City, which United went on to win 4-1 before leaving him on the sidelines again for the 1-1 draw with Stoke.

The captain was also left out of England’s World Cup qualifier with Slovenia and Mourinho says he need time to recover from recent events.

“I think what you could hurt you did already,” Mourinho told reporters. “I don’t think you can do more than what you did.

“So I think in this moment it’s time for him to recover from what was done to him and the best place for him to do that is feeling like he feels at home here.”

“You can hurt me but you can’t put me down. I think he’s the same.”

Mourinho also defended his decision to drop the Manchester United captain and insisted he still has a future at the club.

“That’s my job,” he added. “That’s a choice. He didn’t lose his place. Not at all. For me, he’s first choice. I have 24 players.

“The records are not important for me. A match is an isolated event. There’s no relation to what you did in the past, no relation to what you do in the future.

“That’s why I don’t like much the statistics of previous matches and previous results and this kind of thing.”