The history of football is littered with conflicts between players and managers, so with everyone’s eyes focused on Mourinho and Pogba this week, let’s take a look at five of the most heated feuds that have taken place between players and managers in the recent past:The ongoing rift between Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba at Manchester United is one of the biggest talking points in football this week, and with Manchester United hosting Valencia in the Champions League this mid-week, it doesn’t look as though the topic is going to go away any time soon.
The heated and competitive nature of football means that clashes between players and managers are inevitable but sometimes, those feuds become so heated that one of, if not both of the people involved end up having to leave their positions at their club.
3 Roberto Mancini vs Carlos Tevez
Carlos Tevez didn’t do his reputation any favours during his brief spat with then Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini during the 2011/12 season.
Disgruntled with his position in the Manchester City squad, Tevez famously refused to come on as a substitute during a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich in a move that enraged both Mancini and the Manchester City fanbase.
The two men would eventually patch it up and Tevez would continue to play for City for another season before parting ways and signing for Juventus in 2013.
2 Sir Alex Ferguson vs David Beckham
Sir Alex Ferguson’s feud with David Beckham is said to have been the main reason for the English midfielder’s move to Real Madrid back in 2003.
Ferguson was said to have been unhappy with Beckham’s general attitude, and the two men famously came to blows in the changing rooms, with Ferguson famously kicking a boot at Beckham’s head, cutting him above the eye and grabbing headlines all over England.
The two men have since reconciled, with Beckham himself acknowledging that he was young at the time and was likely acting against his better judgment.
1 Mick McCarthy vs Roy Keane
Never one to shy away from confrontation, Roy Keane’s clash with Mick McCarthy during the 2002 World Cup is the stuff of football legend.
Keane was said to have been dissatisfied with the training set-up for the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup campaign and wasn’t afraid to let his feelings be known.
The issue quickly came to the attention of the public, and Keane, following a massive (and pretty hilarious) tirade against McCarthy, was subsequently sent home from the World Cup. The incident divided opinion in Ireland but the two men have buried the hatchet in the years that followed.