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Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho should know better than to mistreat Schweinsteiger

By Rucker Haringey

Manchester United's new Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho poses with a scarf on the pitch during a photocall at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, northern England, on July 5, 2016.Jose Mourinho officially started work as Manchester United manager at the club's Carrington training base yesterday. The 53-year-old was appointed as United boss in May after the sacking of Dutchman Louis van Gaal. / AFP / OLI SCARFF (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)
Manchester United's new Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho poses with a scarf on the pitch during a photocall at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, northern England, on July 5, 2016.Jose Mourinho officially started work as Manchester United manager at the club's Carrington training base yesterday. The 53-year-old was appointed as United boss in May after the sacking of Dutchman Louis van Gaal. / AFP / OLI SCARFF (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Manchester United should be ashamed of how Jose Mourinho is treating Bastian Schweinsteiger

When Manchester United made the bold move to bring Jose Mourinho into power at Old Trafford, their fans had to hope that he’d learned from his past managerial mistakes. His current treatment of German legend Bastian Schweinsteiger shows that The Special One hasn’t learned a thing.

In case you missed it, the Daily Mail is reporting that Mourinho has banished Schweinsteiger from the senior dressing room. Instead, the venerable midfielder now is exclusively training and dressing with the club’s youth. It’s a clear message from the manager that Schweinsteiger has no future at Manchester United.

For the record, I don’t have a problem with that aspect of the decision. The game has clearly passed the legendary midfielder by, and at 32-years-of-age, it’s best that he find a club where his lack of athleticism will be less of a challenge. I even wrote a piece recently affirming United’s decision to part ways with the aging midfielder. From an on-pitch perspective, it’s clearly the right decision for the club.

However, there’s a huge difference between selling Schweinsteiger and embarrassing him on the way out the door. He’s done absolutely  nothing to deserve this shameful treatment from Mourinho. There would have been zero harm in allowing him to continue to train with the first team until a suitable transfer could be secured.

Instead, Mourinho has again chosen to engage in an ego battle with a player. This was my biggest concern about his ability to be successful at a club with the steep history of United. There’s no club in England where the ability to act with dignity is more important than it is at Old Trafford. Mourinho has shown once again that he isn’t going to concern himself with treating players the right way.

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Remember, this isn’t a one-off situation for the Portuguese manager. He’s frequently engaged in high-profile battles with big-time stars throughout his career. United fans need only ask Juan Mata about the vile nature of such battles.

For that matter, Mourinho’s inability to get along with his star players is probably the reason he was available for United to hire in the first place. It’s obvious that he lost the Chelsea dressing room last season and that’s why Roman Abramovich had no choice but to oust him. Manchester United fans had hoped that Mourinho had learned his lesson.

Alas, it seems that the old manager might be incapable of learning new tricks. Or perhaps he’s just unwilling to take a hard look in the mirror and learn from his mistakes. Either way, Jose Mourinho’s shameful treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger should set warning bells off all over the Manchester United fan base.

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