SUMMARY
- Schweinsteiger left Bayern Munich and joined Manchester United in 2015.
- Schweinsteiger's debut season at Old Trafford went well, but he got injured in the second half and had to be sidelined.
Former Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger recently came clean on his Manchester United stint that has sent shockwaves across the soccer world. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his time, Schweinsteiger’s trophy cabinet will put most soccer stars to shame. However, even a player of his reputation and caliber had to endure a rather humiliating time at United.
Back in 2015, Bastian Schweinsteiger left Bayern Munich and signed with the Premier League giants Manchester United. Schweinsteiger spent 13 years at the German club and won 13 Bundesliga titles. The German former international also bagged the Champions League as well as seven DFB-Pokal titles. Despite arriving in England in the later part of his career, the United fans were elated to have Schweinsteiger play for their team.
Schweinsteiger’s first season at Old Trafford went well but an injury in the second half of the season had him sidelined. Upon his return to the club after recovering from the injury, Schweinsteiger had the shock of his life. During his interview with ex-United star Gary Neville on an episode of The Overlap, Schweinsteiger revealed that he found out that he was banished from the team dressing room by the then-manager Jose Mourinho.
He said, “When I walked into (United’s training ground) Carrington, (football director) John Murtough was there and said that I wasn’t allowed to walk into the dressing room – the coach had said so.” As insulting as it was, Schweinsteiger had to even ask Murtough to fetch him his boots and training gear from the dressing room so that he could train with the U-16 team. To pile further misery, this incident occurred on his birthday.
Bastian Schweinsteiger comes clean on his dispute with Jose Mourinho
Bastian Schweinsteiger also went on to explain why he was treated as an outsider by Jose Mourinho during his stint at Manchester United. The 2014 World Cup winner revealed that he requested a meeting with Mourinho to which the ex-United coach complied. Mourinho’s dispute with Schweinsteiger was because of the latter’s decision to recover from his previous injury in Germany.
Schweinsteiger said, “He explained to me that he didn’t see me happy here at United because when I had my injury, I did my rehab with German doctors.” However, the ex-Bayern star did reveal that Mourinho ultimately apologized to the German soccer icon, but it was not until he had virtually left the club. In 2017, Schweinsteiger decided to leave the English club and signed with the MLS club Chicago Fire.
🏆 Eight Bundesliga titles
🏆 Seven German Cups
🏆 One FA Cup
🏆 One World Cup
⚽️ 121 Germany caps
⚽️ 500 games for Bayern Munich
⚽️ Spells at Man Utd and Chicago Fire🙌 Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement. pic.twitter.com/IS2eliEMOq
— bet365 (@bet365) October 8, 2019
Before making a final decision, Schweinsteiger went to Mourinho to ask his permission to leave the club. Then, the veteran Portuguese coach decided to bury the hatchet and apologize to his player. With this, Schweinsteiger put an end to his two-year stint at Manchester United which was most plagued with injuries. In the two years, he made 35 appearances, scored two goals, and provided three assists.
Bastian Schweinsteiger’s story puts former United star to shame
Meanwhile, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville was left dumbfounded after learning of Bastian Schweinsteiger’s cruel banishment from his ex-club. Neville was left in utter disbelief as Schweinsteiger admitted how Mourinho refused to allow him to enter the club’s dressing room. After hearing Schweinsteiger’s story, Neville admitted that he was “embarrassed” at how his former club treated Schweinsteiger.
Neville said, “I always think players leave clubs, but there is a way to do things, there is a way to behave and act.” While Bastian Schweinsteiger’s incident took place eight years ago, there continue to be reports of players and managers clashing against each other at Manchester United. In the last couple of years, current United head coach Erik ten Hag has come under the radar for his alleged poor management of the players.
“They kicked you out of the dressing room?!”@BSchweinsteiger shocks @GNev2 by revealing Murtough told him he couldn’t train with the first team under Mourinho 🤯 pic.twitter.com/cgHdGxyLc6
— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) April 18, 2024
In 2022, Ten Hag famously clashed with Cristiano Ronaldo with the Portuguese soccer legend leaving the club shortly after. Last year, Ten Hag’s dispute with Jadon Sancho forced the latter to be loaned out to Borussia Dortmund. Most recently, there have been reports of a dispute between Ten Hag and forward Alejandro Garnacho which has once again subjected Manchester United to criticism.