Jose Mourinho was all smiles but still made clear where Manchester United's problems lie

This was jovial Jose, but one still determined to hint at his frustrations

Jose Mourinho walked into his press conference in Old Trafford's Champions Club suite smiling, waving and offering an enthusiastic welcome to journalists. "Hello, hello," he chirped, as if this particular Monday was no more manic than usual at Manchester United.

It was not the mood that many in the room had expected to find Mourinho in, given the pressure he finds himself under following the dismal 3-1 defeat at West Ham United on Saturday.

Yet for all the talk that Mourinho is losing his touch, the endless debate on whether that the modern game has 'left him behind', he remains a master of manipulation when facing a room full of reporters. He is still able to present a composed public face, claim there is nothing to see here, and at the same time satisfy the malevolent urges that lie beneath.

Those expecting a combative and aggressive Mourinho to preview the Champions League meeting with Valencia were disappointed. He did not raise his voice, challenge reporters on their line of questioning or staunchly defend himself against criticism.

At one point, he even accepted partial responsibility for the current problems at Old Trafford, welcoming Luke Shaw's acceptance of blame on behalf of the players but adding an important amendment.

"I like that perspective but I don't agree totally," he said of Shaw's remarks. "It's all of us. Everybody in the club has a role to play. The kit man has a role to play, the nutritionist has a role to play. I have a role to play. Everybody has a role to play."

One Spanish journalist put it to Mourinho that his Old Trafford tenure could be described as a failure. Rather than biting back, Mourinho responded coolly. "I can say that the big success of Atletico Madrid last year was my success two years before," he said, referring to winning the Europa League in his first United season.

The United manager playfully dealt with speculation suggesting that Zinedine Zidane has been lined up as his successor too. When questioned on reports of a phone call between the pair by another Spanish journalist, he asked him to speak to the reporter who wrote the story, sat directly behind him.

Mourinho then jovially claimed his phone was being bugged. For him to show such looseness and levity when confronted with difficult questions about crisis mounting on his watch was as unnatural as it was unexpected.

There were, however, a couple of key answers when Mourinho allowed the mask to drop. The most telling came when he was asked whether, having criticised the attitude of his players on several occasions over the past week, he felt that some members of his squad simply "do not care" about turning the club's fortune around.

"I think some care more than others," Mourinho replied, a climbdown from the wording of the reporter's question, but still startling admission and a hint at the reported unrest within the squad.

The United manager would say that he trusts professional footballers to be "honest", believing that they always "give the maximum", while admitting he might be "naive".

Mourinho joked about journalists bugging his phone (Getty)

Mourinho is no innocent in this regard though, as anyone even vaguely familiar with the circumstances which led to him leaving Real Madrid and Chelsea knows.

There was also the claim that he struggles to tell what his players are thinking. How had they, as a group, responded to the West Ham defeat? "I see sad people, I see people that doesn't look like they lost a game, I see so-so.”

“I see different reactions but sometimes what you see is not really what is inside,” he said. "You can be laughing and be the saddest person in the world and you can be a sad face and inside of you, you are very happy."

Well, quite. Mourinho was not 'a sad face' on Monday. Instead, he chose to laugh. But with those few choice comments, he left nobody in doubt of the frustrations that lie festering beneath.