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Jose Mourinho brushed off Paul Scholes ’ criticism of his conduct at Manchester United , claiming the former midfielder has the “freedom of speech” to say what he wants.
Scholes accused Mourinho of “embarrassing” United on Tuesday night, in the hours leading up to their drab Champions League goalless draw with Valencia .
The former United midfielder expressed his surprise that Mourinho had not been sacked at the weekend following the 3-1 defeat to West Ham.
Jose Mourinho's potential replacementsShow all 14 1 /14Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Who could potentially replace Jose Mourinho at Manchester United?
The Independent
Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Zinedine Zidane Current job: N/A Odds: 5/4 A three-time Champions League winner in his two-and-a-half years at Real Madrid, Zidane is the favourite to replace Mourinho. The 46-year-old has proved adept at managing egos and would be a popular choice with Old Trafford's French contingent, though doubts over his true extent of managerial ability remain.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Antonio Conte Current job: N/A Odds: 10/1 Dismissed from Stamford Bridge this summer, Conte has a proven track record of winning trophies and Premier League pedigree. United, however, may be understandably wary about appointing another manager who has recently left Chelsea in acrimonious circumstances.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Leonardo Jardim Current job: N/A Odds: 10/1 The highly-rated Jardim led Monaco to the Champions League semi-finals two seasons ago but was dismissed by the club recently after a poor start to the Ligue 1 season.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Mauricio Pochettino Current job: Tottenham Hotspur Odds: 12/1 Pochettino has never hidden his ambitions to manage at the very highest level and would offer a more attractive style of play than his close friend Mourinho. Snaring him from Tottenham would be difficult but a power play on United's part.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Brendan Rodgers Current job: Celtic Odds: 20/1 Rodgers appears to be coming to the end of time at Celtic, after disputes with the board. His association with Liverpool is likely to be a barrier to any role at Old Trafford, though.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Roberto Martinez Current job: Belgium Odds: 20/1 Martinez has restored his reputation somewhat after leading Belgium to a third-place finish at the World Cup. His three years at Everton came with mixed fortunes.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Carlo Ancelotti Current job: Napoli Odds: 20/1 A safe pair of hands, Ancelotti would - much like his former Madrid assistant Zidane - settle the dressing room and cope well with managing its various egos. His recent appointment at Napoli makes any return to the Premier League unlikely.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Laurent Blanc Current job: N/A Odds: 20/1 Spent the final years of his playing career at United under Sir Alex Ferguson, Blanc has previously linked with a return to Old Trafford. Out of work since leaving Paris Saint-Germain in 2016, he may have been away from the elite level too long.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Massimiliano Allegri Current job: Juventus Odds: 20/1 Allegri has enjoyed consistent success with Juventus in Italy, winning four consecutive Scudettos and reaching two Champions League finals. Vowed to move abroad once his time with the Old Lady is done but unlikely to depart any time soon.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Ryan Giggs Current job: Wales Odds: 25/1 A club legend, caretaker in the aftermath of David Moyes' reign and an assistant to Louis van Gaal. Giggs was overlooked when Mourinho was appointed and promptly left. Now in charge of Wales, he still has much to prove in management.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Didier Deschamps Current job: France Odds: 33/1 France's World Cup-winning manager would obviously be a hit with a certain midfielder at Old Trafford but whether his style of play would represent much of a change from Mourinho is debatable.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Diego Simeone Current job: Atletico Madrid Odds: 33/1 Perhaps Mourinho's heir as the finest practioner of reactive, safety-first football in Europe, Simeone has given little indication that he is ready to leave his beloved Atletico.
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Jose Mourinho's potential replacements Eddie Howe Current job: Bournemouth Odds: 33/1 Approaching flavour-of-the-month status following Bournemouth's strong start to the season, Howe is nevertheless a talented, young English coach committed to an attractive brand of football. Perhaps ill-prepared for a job of this magnitude.
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“I’m actually slightly surprised he survived after Saturday, the performance was so bad,” Scholes told BT Sport.
Paul Scholes accused Jose Mourinho of 'embarrasing' Manchester United (BT Sport) “He’s coming out in press conferences constantly having a go at players, having at go at people above him because he’s not getting what he wants.
“I think his mouth is out of control and I think he’s embarrassing the club.”
Watch Scholes' comments below... When Scholes’ comments were put to Mourinho in his post-match press conference, he claimed not be interested in what the pundit had to say.
“I don’t need to know what he said. He said what he wants to say, I’m not interested, honestly, I’m not interested,” the United manager said. ”Freedom of speech, free country, you can say what you want.”
Mourinho said much the same when asked about the Old Trafford crowd’s chants of ‘attack, attack, attack’ and the boos that met the final whistle on Tuesday.
“Freedom of speech,” he reiterated. “Especially [for] Manchester United fans that I respect 200 per cent.”
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