Mourinho cannot complain about media pressure, claims Scholes

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has to expect scrutiny from the press, according to the club's former midfielder Paul Scholes.

United, who earlier rubbished reports that Mourinho was set to be sacked regardless of the result against Newcastle United on Saturday, relieved some of the mounting pressure with a 3-2 win over Rafael Benitez's side, courtesy of Alexis Sanchez's 90th-minute header.

Mourinho seemed to suggest in a post-match interview that there had been a "man hunt" following United's dismal start to the season, but Scholes - a pundit on BT Sport - refuted that.

"The manager is always going to get stick when the club's struggling," Scholes said.

"When you're at a big club you're going to be under a lot of scrutiny.

"Mourinho has to realise that we expect Manchester United to be challenging to win the league and do well in the Champions League, so when they're down in 10th, 11th place, he has to expect some stick.

"What we've seen for the last few years has not been good enough. We want them to win leagues and be competitive."

Scholes was backed up by his former team-mate and fellow BT pundit Rio Ferdinand, who was nevertheless impressed by United's spirit against Newcastle.

"We're always going to say what we see, the last few weeks have been rubbish, but today in the second half they were brilliant," Ferdinand said.

"The players responded at half-time. It was magnificent what they did, but it's the first time they've done it this season, now they need to do it consistently.

"Great result in the end, they showed character. It's exactly what we wanted from Manchester United today - desire.

"Today we saw Jose Mourinho can get something out of this dressing room and they will work for him. They were fantastic in that second half."