Man united come back against Newcastle and won 3-2

Mourinho disagreed with the speculation that said he was struggling to motivate his players.

He said: “It is ridiculous talk. The players don’t play for the manager.

“If the players play for their manager they’re not good professionals. Because one day they like the manager and they play for them, the next day comes a manager they don’t like and they don’t play for him.

“What I asked the players was to give absolutely everything. We had some tactical touches. We risked a lot. In the end we won a match that I think we deserved to win.”

On his own future, Mourinho said: “As a friend of mine was saying to me this morning, if tomorrow rains in London it’s my fault. If there is some difficulty to have the agreement of Brexit, it’s my fault. And I have to be ready for all of this.

“I think a lot of wickedness and a clear man-hunting that I think in football is too much. It’s my life, it’s a life I love, it’s a life I worked since I was a kid. I will love it until my last day. It’s one more experience in my life.”

United’s fans remained firmly behind Mourinho, chanting his name for much of the game, and he said in his post-match press conference: “I’m amazed by that.

“I don’t want that, if I could turn and (say), ‘please don’t do it’, I would say that. It’s not about me, it’s about the football club they love.

“But I’m amazed by that, at half-time we were losing 2-0 and the fans were magnificent to the team – I must be clear, to the team. That’s fantastic, I’m really grateful for that.”