2006 PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH: Mourinho calms Rooney’s admission of guilt

Roma boss, Jose Mourinho, has explained the issue of Wayne Rooney, who admitted he wore longer studs than usual because he intended “to hurt” Chelsea players when United traveled to Stamford Bridge in 2006, should be looked at it from a different perspective.

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Mourinho said: “Probably some people will say, ‘Wow, that’s not a very nice thing to do, to feel or to say. But for football people like me, we look at it from a different perspective.”

He’s just a young guy who is upset and frustrated, and who doesn’t accept to lose a title for the second time [in a row], which for me means a lot in relation to the character

Rooney revealed he wore longer studs than usual when United traveled to Stamford Bridge in 2006, knowing only a win would prevent the Blues from winning the Premier League.

Mourinho was managing Chelsea at the time and they beat United 3-0, to clinch back-to-back league titles.

Rooney said: “I changed my studs before the game. I put longer studs in because I wanted to hurt someone.”

If Chelsea won a point, they won the league. At the time, I couldn’t take it. The studs were legal, they were legal size, but they were bigger than what I would normally wear.”