Jose Mourinho claimed that Iker Casillas is running an anti-De Gea campaign.Jose Mourinho on Friday opened an old feud as he claimed that former Spain keeper Iker Casillas was running a campaign against David de Gea to be ousted from the national team.
After Spain’s defeat to Croatia that cost them a spot in the UEFA Nations League semifinal, the Manchester United keeper De Gea came under criticism and was replaced by Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga for the friendly against Bosnia.
However, on Friday, the United coach Mourinho suggested that it was the former Real Madrid keeper Casillas who was behind the campaign driven by the media against De Gea. According to some reports, Casillas is expected to return back to International duty for the Spanish national team.
“Why (is there) criticism in Spain? Do you know?” said Mourinho. “I know. It is because there is somebody very powerful that is thinking about ‘jumping’ again but I think it’s very difficult to jump when you have the best goalkeeper in the world in front of you.”
The feud between Mourinho and De Gea goes back to their Real Madrid days and the two have been involved in verbal fights against each other since then. Recently, Casillas claimed that he regretted staying ‘quiet’ and not confronting Mourinho at the time. To that, the United coach replied, “He confronted me and he did it in a way which no one does better than him – secretly,” Mourinho told Record, the Portuguese newspaper.
The Portuguese coach further added that the Porto keeper is trying to add pressure on De Gea and not on the Spain coach Luis Enrique. “No, not on the manager,” said Mourinho. “I know him very well, the manager. But (on the media), yes.”
