Ex-Man Utd star fires back at Mourinho after Roma sacking

Suraj Radia

• 18 Jan 2024 17:14 GMT
• 3 min read

The fallout from Jose Mourinho’s sacking at Roma has already begun, with one of his former players taking to social media to address comments made by his old manager about him.

Mourinho had his contract terminated at the Stadio Olimpico this week after two-and-a-half years in charge, with Roma sitting ninth in Serie A.

While fans appeared to be devastated by Mourinho’s departure, some players seemed less cut up by the sacking, with ex-Manchester United defender Chris Smalling taking the opportunity to respond to comments made by the Portuguese boss in November.

Smalling has been absent for nearly five months with a knee issue and Mourinho had claimed the 34-year-old ‘isn’t capable of playing through pain’, even suggesting that the former England international would have trouble ‘sleeping with a tooth ache’.

Posting on Instagram, Smalling said: 'No footballer wants to spend their days in a treatment room, and this period of time away from my teammates has challenged me, with setback after setback.

“I have, and will always, put the needs of my team-mates first, but the absolute priority for the medical team is to guarantee that I can play a significant role in the latter part of the season and for seasons to come.”

No love lost between Mourinho and Smalling

The comments by Mourinho led to speculation that Smalling could leave Roma this month but the player outlined his commitment to the Italian side in his post.

It is not the first time Mourinho has been critical of Smalling’s ‘pain threshold, having managed the defender at United and stating that he was ‘cautious’ in his approach to declaring himself fit for games and needed to be ‘brave’.

However, Smalling had been a favourite of Mourinho’s while at Roma, being an ever present in defence when fit and playing some of the best football of his career during that time.

In spite of the feud, Smalling thanked Mourinho at the end of his post and reports have suggested he is hoping to make his comeback to the Roma team in the coming weeks.