Manchester United players reportedly had a ‘blazing row’ during the half-time interval of the derby against Manchester City on Saturday.
The Red Devils went 2-0 down at Old Trafford after being outplayed for much of the first half, and despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic cutting their deficit, it didn’t help the mood within the team during the break.
According to The Sun, Jose Mourinho even allowed his players to air their thoughts and raise voices in the dressing room in a bid to give them the chance to sort their issues out from the opening 45 minutes.
However, he didn’t wait long to make his influence felt having replaced Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the second half, although sources have revealed further details about the atmosphere in the dressing room.
“The hairdryer came out for the first time this season, but it had nothing to do with Jose,” the source told The Sun.
“The players could be heard shouting and arguing amongst themselves during the interval. Jose decided to let them blow off steam for a couple of minutes.
“He then quietened the whole situation down and told them they also needed to calm down or the second half could be much worse.
“Goodness knows what it would have been like if Zlatan wasn’t handed that gift.”
Having been unable to turn the game around, United and Mourinho will look to react when they take on Feyenoord in the Europa League on Thursday night as they look to bounce back with a solid display.
The Portuguese tactician is expected to make changes to his starting line-up with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial pushing to get back into the team, but with Watford away on Sunday, he’ll look to find the right balance and rotate his squad to ensure that they regain their momentum quickly.