Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been under mounting pressure in recent weeks and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville thinks he knows why. The former United and England defender says that Mourinho’s ‘shushing’ gesture to the Old Trafford crowd after the 1-0 win over Tottenham was one of a man who feels he has been unfairly criticised. “That was him saying: ‘I told you so, keep your mouth shut, do one everybody, I know what I’m doing, I’m in control, I’m a winner,’” Neville said on Sky Sports. Neville played for Manchester United for 19 years and believes that the club’s great history of attacking football is weighing on Mourinho’s shoulders. “Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson have in the past said publicly how the club should always play,” he continued. “It should always be attacking football, entertaining football.
“That’s caused him a bit of a problem perception-wise, and he doesn’t feel like he’s getting the respect he deserves.” The second problem, according to Neville, is with the inescapable comparisons with cross town rivals Manchester City and foe from his time in Spain – Pep Guardiola. “In his last home defeat (against Manchester City in September 2016), I think he tried to go punch for punch with Pep Guardiola,” he added. “I think his attitude after this game was: ‘Nobody will come to my ground and do what they did to me again.’
“He doesn’t like being humiliated, and I think he thought that day that they were too open, too free. “And he didn’t want that again in the big games at Old Trafford or away from home. ‘I need to make sure we win and pick up other points.’ “His two problems are emotional: Manchester United’s history and Pep Guardiola’s football. They’re causing him a bit of a problem, but it’s perception.” United face Benfica at Old Trafford in the Champions League today (7.45pm), with Mourinho’s side looking to take their record to four wins from four games in Group A.
