Mourinho refusing to play the blame game after sacking

‘I was always very critical of managers that leave clubs and then they come out and they speak about the details of what happened and who is to blame’

“I just want to finish, like it happened yesterday, and, as I like to say, it’s game over.”

Jose Mourinho refused to address the issues that played a part in his Manchester United sacking, instead speaking up a return to management given it is "game over" at Old Trafford.

United shocked the football world on Tuesday by calling time on the Portuguese’s two-and-a-half years at the club, having overseen their worst start to a Premier League season.

Mourinho lifted the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield in his first year at the club before finishing runners-up in both the league and FA Cup, but things have unravelled since the start of his third campaign at the helm.

The United boss has made his frustrations about players and the club’s decisions clear over recent months, but kept his feelings on such matters to himself when door-stepped near his London home the day after his sacking.

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It appears that chapter is already closed for Mourinho - perhaps thanks to his lofty pay-off - as he focuses on the future, with talk of a return to Real Madrid rumbling on.

“I don’t change,” the Portuguese told Sky Sports News. “What I did when I left Chelsea, for example, is the same that I am going to do now.

“I keep the good things and I don’t speak about anything that happened in the club.

“We could speak about so many good things, we could speak about not as good (things), but that’s not me. It’s finished.

“Manchester United has a future without me and I have a future without Manchester United, so why should I now be sharing with you or even with the supporters any of my feelings.

“It’s over and that’s me and that’s the way I have always been.

“I was always very critical of managers that leave clubs and then they come out and they speak about the details of what happened and who is to blame for (it) and this kind of situation. That’s not me.

“I just want to finish, like it happened yesterday, and, as I like to say, it’s game over.

“I just hope you (in the) media respect this way of myself to be, to react to this kind of situation and until I get back to football I think I have to right to live my normal life, like I am going to do now.

“I go for my little shopping, I go for my little walk and that’s what I want to do and Manchester United is (in the) past.”

Mourinho was fired three years and a day after being sacked by Chelsea, who he left for the second time with their dreadful Premier League title defence underpinned by “palpable discord”.

United were in a better state than the Blues on the field, although the 11-point gap to the top four was as concerning as the 19 points to leaders Liverpool after a mere 17 matches.

Press Association Sport understands the style and substance under Mourinho was concerning the United hierarchy, with the powers that be worried by the lack of development being made with new signings and young players.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will now take temporary charge at Old Trafford until next summer, when the club will appoint a full-time successor. Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino is the current front runner.