Matic 'cannot say it is a successful season' if only trophy is FA Cup

Nemanja Matic has been one of the few players to speak up following a weekend that featured two controversial Jose Mourinho rants.

The first Mourinho monologue was an impassioned 12-minute diatribe defending his performance as Manchester United boss, with claims he is building a "football heritage" at Old Trafford. Then, following Saturday's 2-0 FA Cup win over Brighton & Hove Albion, Mourinho took aim at Luke Shaw. It is this latest attack on the left-back - the Portuguese cited his player's bad positioning as a key reason for his half-time substitution - that has left the dressing room stunned, according to The Telegraph's John Percy and Ian Whittell, and could reportedly lead to Shaw's transfer.

Cue words from Matic, the man who epitomises Mourinho's preference for rugged team play rather than individual freedom, and is widely recognised as a teacher's pet at United.

When asked if winning the FA Cup could save United's season, Matic replied to Sky Sports' Joe Shread: "I think no. If we win the FA Cup it is good, but not perfect.

"You have four competitions in the season - if you win one, for me it is not enough, but you always have to do your best.

"In the Premier League, when you are in the first four this is not perfect but is good to play for the Champions League next season. If you win the FA Cup I cannot say it is a successful season, but it's a good season."

Shaw wasn't the sole target of Mourinho's wrath after the Brighton match. The manager wanted a response from his team in the wake of a Champions League round-of-16 elimination at home to Sevilla, but believed examples of this were scarce in the 14 players who trotted out against the Seagulls.

"I didn't have the reaction from all of them. I had a reaction from some of them, and because some of them were mentally strong enough and with football quality to play, was the reason we won," Mourinho said.

"But a team of 11, when you don't have a minimum of six, seven players performing and wanting to play, want the responsibility to have the ball, want and desire really to play - because one thing is to play, another thing is to be on the (training) pitch - it's difficult to have a good performance. So I'm not happy with the performance at all, but I'm happy with the result."

There is no member of the Manchester United board currently calling for Mourinho's head, reports ESPN's Mark Ogden, but there is a concern his abrasive personality is proving detrimental to his work.

The 55-year-old has until March 31 to reassess and tweak his underperforming squad before Swansea City's Premier League visit. The semi-finals of the FA Cup will be contested over the weekend of April 21-22, when United will take on Tottenham Hotspur at the London club's temporary home of Wembley.