Why Nemanja Vidic refused to criticise Jose Mourinho after Manchester derby

Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic [Courtesy]

Nemanja Vidic refused to criticise Jose Mourinho after Manchester United's derby defeat - because he wants his job.

United were comprehensively beaten by their bitter rivals and Premier League leaders at the Etihad on Sunday.

David Silva and Sergio Aguero fired the champions into the lead before Anthony Martial pulled one back from the spot.

Ilkay Gundogan made sure of the points as City maintained their two-point lead at the top.

City took the lead through David Silva [Courtesy]

And having been asked about United's style of play, former Old Trafford defender Vidic said: "If Mourinho keeps winning then me as a fan, I would not be angry if we win 10 games in a row [playing like that]."

When asked to expand while working as a pundit on beIN Sports, he added: "To be honest, in the future I would like to be the manager. I would like to think that I know things.

"For me to criticise Jose Mourinho, as someone who maybe in the future can become the manager, is not fair.

"He is the manager, he has won a lot of trophies. It's not the Manchester we are used to watching, its's Mourinho's Manchester and when he came to Manchester you have to accept that he is the manager who is going to play this kind of football.

"It is the kind of football he played at Inter, at Chelsea more or less, and Madrid maybe it was more open. At the end of the day that's Mourinho's football."

United's defeat means they are as close to Cardiff in the relegation zone as league-leading City.

When that 12-point gap was mentioned to Mourinho in a question asking whether their title hopes were over, the Portuguese responded: "I think we are not going to be relegated."

Despite that brusque response, the United manager was largely upbeat after a loss in which his side's only shot on target was Martial's penalty.

Mourinho lauded his team's performance despite the loss [Courtesy]

In addition, the three goals conceded leaves them with a negative goal difference and an eye-watering 21 goals in the against column - perhaps underlining why he was so desperate for a centre-back in the summer.

"But I don't think today was the game to touch on that point," Mourinho said. "I think Victor and Chris had a positive performance.

"A kid (Luke Shaw) that made a mistake for the first goal is playing so, so, so, so well and last season he was playing one match every three months.

"In this moment, he is playing every game for 90 minutes, and when I speak about the physical fatigue, the mental fatigue that leads sometimes to small injuries, other times to mistakes during the game, that's what I mean."