Mourinho hits out at 'Einsteins' for criticism

REUTERS - Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has lashed out at football's "Einsteins" for criticising him during the English Premier League club's run of three successive defeats.

Despite winning the first four games of his tenure, Mourinho has come under scrutiny from the media after United's slump in form with the club currently six points behind leaders Manchester City in the league.

United returned to winning ways after beating third-tier side Northampton Town 3-1 in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday.

"We had a bad week. I know that the world is full of Einsteins, I know that they tried to delete 16 years of my career," Mourinho told MUTV, the club's in-house television station.

"They tried to delete an unbelievable history of Manchester United Football Club and to focus on a bad week with three bad results. But that's the new football, it's full of Einsteins."

United have been given the chance to redeem their recent league defeat to City after being drawn to face them at Old Trafford in the fourth round of the League Cup.

With home games against champions Leicester City, Russian side FC Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League and Stoke City coming up, Mourinho hoped his side can regain some of their lost momentum in the coming weeks.

"We have three home matches now in a row and it is always good to be at home," said the former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager.

"If the fans have been disappointed with the last week, I understand completely but I am sure they will be behind the team like they always are."

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)