Nemanja Matic says Man Utd manager Jose Mourinho is not easy to work with but he is also the best

Nemanja Matic has admitted Jose Mourinho is not easy to work with at times because he is constantly demanding more from players, regardless of what they achieve.

But the Manchester United midfielder believes that is one of the reasons why Mourinho is the best coach he has ever played under.

And Matic has insisted Mourinho’s public image as “cold and conceited” is at odds with his warmth and compassion in private and believes the Portuguese is building a squad capable of bringing the glory days back to Old Trafford.

United have won 10 of their past 12 matches but Mourinho has come in for criticism in recent days for his defensive approach in the goalless draw at Anfield last Saturday and an uninspiring 1-0 victory away to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

But Matic launched a staunch defence of Mourinho, under whom he won the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2014/15, before being brought to United for £40 million by the manager this summer.

"Mourinho is a brand, and the best coach I've ever worked with,” the Serbia midfielder said. "Sometimes it isn't easy to work with him, because he always demands more.

"Even when you play the best match in your career, he considers that you can play better in the next match. "I cooperated excellently with him at Chelsea, and the fact that Mourinho is the coach at Manchester was the decisive factor in me choosing my new environment.

"Privately he's completely different from the way he is perceived by the general public. This is a man who possesses all human virtues. He's not at all cold or conceited, as he is presented in the media."

Matic says he is excited by United’s potential this season and hopes to repeat some of the success his compatriot Nemanja Vidic had at the club. 

"He (Mourinho) has created an excellent group of players with huge potential, and everything is there for us to achieve good results,” Matic told Air Serbia’s in-flight magazine, Elevate. "I don't want to talk about the goals of the club, but when I mention Manchester United I think the ambitions are clear to everyone. "We will do our best to achieve the results that previous generations had.

"The fact that I'm playing for United is the pinnacle of my career and of everything I've achieved in football.

"Vidic is spoken about with great respect in Manchester. He left an indelible mark at United. I will do my best to repeat the success that Vidic had, and I know that it will be very tough.

"I do not want them to ask me someday 'What are you even doing here?’ I'm privileged to be following in his footsteps, and if I'm even half as respected among the fans as Nemanja I will be overjoyed."  

Meanwhile, Nicky Butt insists Mourinho is interested in United’s academy, which he said will never be like some clubs who “cast their net out and trawl them (young players) all in like fish, but then dump them without realising they are just kids.”

"I am lucky to have a manager who communicates with me and is interested in some of the younger ones," Butt said.

"We have discussions about them, who to bring up to senior training and who to look at, such as the last game of last season (against Crystal Palace) when we had six debutants. That was unbelievable

"In that sense I'm lucky, but it doesn't surprise me. When the manager came in, he was honest with me. He said that his role was to get United back to winning ways, it wasn't to run the academy because that was my job.

"But he said he would be here for me to lean on, to help, join in and watch sessions. He said he would discuss players with me in terms of who to bring up, who to put out on loan, but ultimately, he said I was the boss of the Academy and he was the boss of the first-team. If I'm perfectly honest, that's just the way I want it."