Three losses in nine days will do that

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND — Jose Mourinho has cut an unhappy figure during Manchester United’s first wobble in his time at Old Trafford.

The smile has gone. The answers in interviews are getting shorter. His list of targets for criticism is getting longer. He is even starting to feel sorry for himself.

“The worst manager in the history of football,” Mourinho said of himself, sarcastically, on Friday.

Three losses in nine days led to widespread criticism of Mourinho’s management style and the makeup of his United team. Beating third-tier club Northampton in the English League Cup on Wednesday gave Mourinho some brief respite, but there will be more scrutiny if United loses at home to Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.

Mourinho won his first four games in charge of United, but the honeymoon period is over. He has been typically outspoken in railing against refereeing decisions, those he described as “Einsteins” in the media, and against even his own players on occasion over the past two weeks.

Mourinho insisted Friday he was “upset with nothing” and was a “lucky guy,” saying his only gripe was what he perceived as unfair criticism of his players from outsiders.

“I should protect them, I would love to protect them, (but) I can’t,” Mourinho said. “It is something that is completely out of my control. “But with me, it’s fine and with the Einsteins it’s fine,” he added. “They can speak, they can write, they can criticize the work of other people, but I am a good man.”

Yet, it was Mourinho who was criticizing United players Luke Shaw, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard after poor performances or individual mistakes during recent matches. Mourinho was the same with some of his Chelsea players during his second spell at Stamford Bridge.