The Red Devils legend wants to see his former side get behind their manager and reiterates that he is still the right man for the job
Manchester United have been urged to follow Liverpool’s lead, with Gary Neville calling for Jose Mourinho to be offered the same level of support as Jurgen Klopp.
The man in charge at Old Trafford has seen his position called into question on a regular basis over recent weeks, with an inconsistent start to the season and talk of rifts in the camp doing his cause few favours.
A 3-2 victory over Newcastle has eased some of the pressure for now, but that result came amid reports suggesting that the United board were ready to wield the axe regardless of how the Red Devils fared in a must-win game.
Neville was among those to speak out against those suggestions, with the United legend clearly annoyed by them, and he feels inspiration can be taken from an arch-rival when it comes to backing a manager.
He told Sky Sports on the approach Ed Woodward and the Red Devils board need to take: “The contract extension given to him in the summer was a sign that they were going to hit choppy waters, and they would have to go through it.
“Jurgen Klopp is yet to win anything, but there’s a buy-in to what he’s doing at Liverpool. Manchester United have to buy in to Jose Mourinho as manager, give him the confidence and not undermine him and just go with it. Because if Jose was to be changed in the next couple of weeks, the new manager will see a few players he doesn’t like and then you’re in that cycle of continually changing.
“I’m not sure this is a case where a new manager can come in and hit the ground running, pick a team up and be champions in 12 months. Jose is a serial win, and I don’t buy into this theory that he’s finished, that he’s a manager of yesterday.
“I heard that from 2003 to 2006 about Sir Alex Ferguson when Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho first came to England. There were suggestions that it was the end of Sir Alex, but he needed to build a new team, and Jose needs time to work it out.
“I hope the club can back Jose with the players he wants in January, and the players he doesn’t want. That’s the key thing. I’ve got the feeling in the last few months that the club have retreated a little bit on him in the transfer market, but maybe even retreated on him in terms of the players he doesn’t want.
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“I feel there’s maybe a tug-of-war [between Mourinho and the board] and that needs to stop.”
While questions are still being asked of Mourinho and his relationship with the power brokers at Old Trafford, a loyal fan base made it clear during a dramatic clash with Newcastle that they remain fully behind him.
Neville hopes others now buy into that way of thinking, with the promise of more challenges to come before United can claim to be clear of a testing period – with games against Chelsea and Juventus next on the agenda after the international break.
“In some ways, it was better for Jose Mourinho to win like that [against Newcastle on Saturday] than it was to win 3-0. If you beat Newcastle 3-0, everyone would say well Manchester United should beat Newcastle comfortably, the money they’ve spent, where Newcastle are in the league,” added Neville.
“But the way United were playing for 60, 70 minutes, and the way Newcastle were playing, you think that if they really aren’t with the manager, if they really don’t want to wear the shirt, if they really don’t have that spirit, we’re really now going to find out.
“But the players in the last 25 minutes responded, and they were fighting for everything, they were pushing until the end. It was a little bit messy, it wasn’t the perfect performance in football terms.
“The international break is probably a welcome break for Jose Mourinho, the board and for the players, but it all happens (when they return) in about a month and that’s when we’ll find out where they’re at this season.
“In terms of those earlier reports emanating that Jose wouldn’t be at the club, I’d be stunned if he wasn’t at Stamford Bridge in a couple of weeks’ time because ultimately the game was won [against Newcastle] and you could see the spirit at the club.”