Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has indicated that he blames the Football Association for the fact that Wayne Rooney was drinking into the early hours while on international duty, comparing the 31-year-old forward to a pencil which he would expect to be looked after if loaned out for someone else’s use.

Mourinho, who is expected to keep Rooney on the substitute’s bench against Arsenal on Saturday despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s suspension, said that he did not want to criticise England interim manager Gareth Southgate – or ‘Gary’ as he mistakenly called him. But he said England had a duty to “protect” the Manchester United player.

“[If] the player goes to the national team, he belongs to the national team,” Mourinho said. “I learned since I was a kid, if someone [lends] me something, I have to take care even better than if it was mine. [If] your friend lent you a pencil, you have to take care of the pencil better than if it was your pencil, so I think when one day if I become a national team manager, I will try, try. I am not saying that I will be successful on that, and I am not being critic with Gary (sic) or anyone. I get the occasion to wish Gary the best of luck, but I think you have to build something to protect what is not yours, what someone [lends you.]”

Despite claiming that where Rooney was on international business was none of his business, the 55-year-old seems to have endeavoured to investigate what happened in the early hours of last Saturday night, which saw Rooney warned by the FA as to his future conduct. “If you go one by one, to see where these 23 players were, some of them were in worse places than the hotel bar,” the manager said.

He delivered a dig to his old adversary Arsene Wenger, whom he faces for the 16th time this weekend, declaring that he is not afforded the same respect as the Frenchman, even him though his own last title was won “18 months ago… not 18 years ago.” It is actually 12 years since Wenger last won his third Premier League title with Arsenal, though Mourinho – who has the same tally – said that both of them deserved respect.

“I think we are speaking about six or seven Premier League titles [between us],” he said. “I have three, I think. Mr Wenger has three or four - I don’t know. Does that mean we should be respected even in periods where our results are not the best? I think Mr Wenger has that respect from all of you. I don’t think I have especially because my last Premier League title was 18 months ago. It was not 18 years ago.”

Though United have only won two Premier League games in eight, he said that the lack of respect may stem from him being too successful for his own good.

Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Show all 11 1 /11 Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Arsène Wenger, February 2005 After being probed about the number of foreign players in his Arsenal side, Wenger flipped the question onto Chelsea's lack of homegrown talent. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Jose Mourinho, October 2005 Mourinho did not initially bite back, but after Wenger criticised his team further, he infamously labelled the Frenchman a 'voyeur'. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Arsène Wenger, November 2005 Wenger did not react well and accused Mourinho of being "disconnected with reality and disrespectful". Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Jose Mourinho, April 2008 Their rivalry calmed after Mourinho's exit from Chelsea in 2007, but the Portuguese could not help but prod Wenger again during his time at Internazionale. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Arsène Wenger, April 2013 After Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso appeared to purposely earn yellow cards in a Champions League tie for Mourinho's Real Madrid side, Wenger admonised their actions in the press. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Jose Mourinho, April 2013 Wenger's comments provoked a spiky reaction from Mourinho, who attacked his rival's reputation as a manager who develops young talent. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Arsène Wenger, January 2014 Mourinho, back at Chelsea, sold Juan Mata to Manchester United shortly after the two sides had played their final league fixture against each other for the season. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Jose Mourinho, January 2014 Wenger's reaction did not surprise Mourinho, who cried foul himself with a complaint about Arsenal's fixture list. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Jose Mourinho, February 2014 After Wenger suggested his rival may suffer from a 'fear of failure', Mourinho infamously retorted by calling Wenger a 'specialist in failure'. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Arsène Wenger, October 2014 The pair finally came to physical blows on the touchline during Chelsea's 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in October 2014. Mourinho and Wenger's rivalry: in quotes Jose Mourinho, October 2015 A year later, with his title-winning side falling apart at the seams, Mourinho claimed that Wenger was the only manager in the league who could criticise referees and get away with it.

“Maybe it’s my fault,” he said. “Maybe I put the level so high that people don’t expect different than that. I won at every club. I was champion in every club. I won cups with every club. I won in every country. I won in four different countries. I won in Europe. I won in domestic competitions. I always won in the first or second season so nobody here is saying ‘ok let’s see if he can win with Manchester United at the third season.’ Nobody is saying that. Nobody says I deserve time, that I deserve credibility. Maybe I should be proud of it because maybe it’s my fault. Maybe it’s my fault.”

Manchester United v Arsenal in numbers