Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has hit out at "football Einsteins" who he claims have tried to dismiss his career triumphs during a difficult week for the club.
United beat Northampton Town 3-1 on Wednesday to move into the fourth round of the EFL Cup and end a run of three consecutive defeats against Manchester City, Feyenoord and Watford.
Mourinho conceded afterwards that the club's supporters were justifiably upset at the manner of those losses, but accused critics of attempting to undermine the legacies of both himself and the club.
"We now have three games at home in a row. It's always good to be at home," he told MUTV, with United facing Leicester City, Zorya Luhansk and Stoke City at Old Trafford before the international break.
"I can understand completely if the fans are disappointed with the last week. But I'm sure they'll be behind the team like they always are.
"We had a bad week. I know that some football Einsteins - football is full of Einsteins - they try to delete 16 years of my career, to delete an unbelievable history of Man United and focus on a bad week.
"But that's the new football. It's full of Einsteins."
Northampton cancelled out Michael Carrick's opener thanks to Alex Revell's penalty just before half-time, but further goals from Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford sealed the victory for United in the second half at Sixfields Stadium.
Mourinho felt the home side were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men following Jak McCourt's two-footed challenge on Memphis Depay, but was happy with United's overall control in proceedings.
"We deserved it. It was as I was expecting. We were totally in control for the first 35 minutes and then we were back in control for the last 25 minutes," he said.
"The game could and should have been easier, because normally it is easier against 10 men – we should have been playing against 10 men very early in the second half. But they fought and they played with their strength.
"They tried to cause us problems, which they did at times, so it was a difficult match but overall it was a positive performance."
