FORMER Manchester United assistant manager Ricardo Formosinho has claimed a lack of ‘sporting truth’ prevented the club’s Premier League title win in 2017-18.
Manchester City swooped to the crown that year with a record points total.
Jose Mourinho was robbed of the Premier League title with Manchester United, it has been claimedCredit: PA:Press Association
However, Pep Guardiola’s side were charged with Financial Fair Play breaches by Uefa following their massive transfer market spending.
Initially banned from the Champions League for two years, the Etihad Stadium side denied all allegations.
A successful Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal saw the ban quashed and City were only fined £8.9million for failing to cooperate with the Uefa investigation.
The allegations led Formosinho, 64, to claim United could have won the title.
He is quoted by Goal as telling Portuguese newspaper Record: “We weren’t champions, it’s true.
“But we won the Europa League, the League Cup, the Super Cup.
“And, in a fight with a Manchester City, who did not fulfil, as proved later, the Financial Fair Play, we were runners-up at a time when, having sporting truth, we would have been champions.”
United finished 19 points behind City that season, famously denying their rivals an early April crowning with a 3-2 comeback win at Eastlands.
The Citizens nonetheless broke the Premier League record for most points, wins and biggest winning margin.
Finishing with 81 points, Mourinho’s Red Devils would have matched Leicester’s triumph two years earlier as the joint-sixth lowest points total for a title-winning side.
Formosinho left Old Trafford later that year when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was hired as manager.
The Portuguese assistant followed Mourinho to Tottenham in 2019 but left the club in August.
Ricardo Formosinho formed part of Mourinho’s backroom staff at United, Tottenham and PortoCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But Formosinho still believes the Spurs boss is the best coach in world football.
He added: “People may ask why he’s the best. I answer that because he thinks faster and comes up with solutions faster.
“When talking about the growth of others at the tactical level, he goes far ahead strategically.
“He’s different for the better. I’d even say much better.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
