Romelu Lukaku has backed Jose Mourinho as he feels modern players are too soft to be criticized.
Mourinho splashed a mammoth £75m to rope in Lukaku Everton in a bid to solve his goal drought and the Belgian international repaid his faith in enigmatic fashion as he went on to hit 25 goals in his maiden season at the Old Trafford.
Since taking charge at Manchester United Mourinho has had some on and off relationship with some players.
The likes of Luke Shaw , Anthony Martial and Eric Bailly has all been the subject of Mourinho’s criticism as the gaffer openly hit out at his players on some occasions. Mourinho also asked for respect following his side’s 3-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur and Lukaku feels his manager has done the right thing.
“Sometimes footballers, we get soft a little bit.
“If I listen to players from back in the day and now, a manager cannot say what he wants to a player because you feel attacked.
“But I don’t feel attacked, because that’s who I am – I’m a tough man, but that doesn’t come from football, that comes from my background
“My relationship with him [Mourinho] is cool. He makes me laugh, he makes the players laugh, he’s a real family guy
“He fights for his players, but he’s real. When you’re not happy, you don’t need to fake your emotions.
“People need to appreciate that, at least there are people who are real in this world like him.
Because most of the managers in the league, when they’re not happy they try to find a way to seem happy.
“You should respect that he wants to keep his own personality and not shy away from confrontation.
“Here, he really wants us to improve. He’s a normal guy, we get along well. He’s cool with everybody.”
“What I like about him is he’s not going to fake his emotions. When he’s mad, you know he’s mad. When he’s happy, you see he’s happy.
“I don’t understand why people don’t like the realness about him. When he’s mad at me I know he’s mad at me, and I try to do what he wants so he’s happy again.”
