Gary Neville has urged Manchester United to stick with Jose Mourinho despite the club’s poor start to the season.
United fell to a second successive league defeat against Tottenham on Monday night at Old Trafford after a Harry Kane header and Lucas Moura’s brace downed the hosts in the second half.
After beating Leicester City on the opening weekend, Mourinho’s men lost 3-2 at Brighton & Hove Albion before Monday’s defeat to Spurs, after which boos were heard ringing around Old Trafford.
Some fans did stay to applaud Mourinho and the players for their efforts against Tottenham, and Neville believes the club’s board should show a similar level of patience.
“We saw Louis van Gaal sacked after an FA Cup final victory, we saw David Moyes sacked with four games to go of a season, so we are no longer talking about a football club that is behaving as it has historically done,” Neville said during Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football broadcast.
“I accept these are different times and I accept the difficulties and challenges, but my honest view as I stand here now is that Ed Woodward gave him a contract last season, only seven or eight months ago, and he should see that contract through to the end and do the job.
“You can’t keep jumping around with managers. I hear the third-year Mourinho stories and all the rest of it and you can’t disagree with those stories because there is some history.
“But what I would say is it’s time now for Manchester United to batten down the hatches and for Jose Mourinho and Ed Woodward to sort themselves out if there is a problem there.
“Get the team right for the rest of the season because the club is bigger than any individual. They have to get themselves sorted because it’s not a time for in-fighting and politics.”
“He (Mourinho) saw the end of his contract at Inter Milan, he saw the end of his contract at Porto and he saw the end of his contract at Real Madrid.
“It’s only at Chelsea, which is a club of madness, where this has happened. At Inter Milan, Porto and Real Madrid he saw it to the end so let’s not rewrite history. At Chelsea, everybody dies a little bit early. It’s that type of club, he’s not on his own there.
“To suggest that Manchester United are like Chelsea is not right. I have to say Manchester United still do things slightly differently.
“In the last few years, there has been an erosion of the beliefs. Jamie Carragher said last week the morals and traditions and bringing through British kids has gone out of the window when they sacked David Moyes and brought in Louis van Gaal.
“I get that and I understand that, but it is still too early – three games into the season – to start suggesting there should be a change of manager.”