Jose Mourinho laid the blame on Manchester United manager David Moyes for unsettling Wayne Rooney as the Chelsea manager kicked his mind games into overdrive ahead of their English Premier League clash.
Mourinho believes Moyes' statement of Rooney being second-choice to Robin Van Persie was the main reason behind the unrest, and also why Chelsea decided to move for the England international.
"Why?" said Mourinho, when asked if he expected a hostile reception from United fans on Monday. "They are against me? But I didn't say you will be a second choice for me.
"We are trying to get a player that a manager told will be a second option for him.
"We are not going for Van Persie. They don't have to be against me.
"If I say Ramires is a second option for me and he plays when Lampard is tired or injured and if someone comes here to get Ramires, nobody is upset.
Asked if it was Moyes' fault, Mourinho said: "Of course."
The Portuguese said it would be in the best interests of all parties to sell a player who wants to leave, even if it might be a difficult decision.
"It is a difficult decision (to sell a player who wants to leave)," he added.
"You can feel that the player's personality is something you can control and turn around and settle down so he gives you the maximum of performance, but that old-fashioned mentality of you don't sell a player in the same country I think doesn't help the market and it doesn't help the players.
"Sometimes you push the players to play abroad when you should be interested in keeping the players in your league because you are contributing to making your league the best."
United are reportedly ready to let Rooney go to a club outside the Premier League, but do not want to sell to a direct rival.
"There is not a rule for a player who is unhappy," Mourinho said. "We had Arjen Robben unhappy and we sold him to Real Madrid because he wanted so much to go to Real Madrid. We had William Gallas unhappy and we sold him to Arsenal. Other times for sure we have kept players.
"I was so sad about William Gallas. He was fundamental for us when we won the two Premierships and he wanted to go and we decided not to stop him.
"It was not an economic problem for the club, just the will of the player to go. (Ricardo) Carvalho and Terry were playing central defender all the time and he wanted to be a first choice all the time.
"He was playing many matches in a position that was not his best, he was playing left-back and sometimes Wayne Bridge was playing there was so he was not so happy, so we thought it was a fair situation to sell him in the end."
