The Old Trafford boss takes his side to Liverpool today to face their bitter rivals in what promises to be one of the clashes of the season.
There is no love lost between the two most successful clubs in Britain and Mourinho and his men are guaranteed to face a hostile welcome.
Former United stars Gary Neville and Mikel Silvestre have claimed Mourinho’s men don’t relish the big occasions.
But Mourinho insists it isn’t a problem and that his side will relish the atmosphere.
He said: “You know this is quite funny for me, because I think when people speak about big atmospheres, it looks like we don’t like them.
“It looks like it’s a problem for us to go to a certain place and to face a big atmosphere - but this is what we want.
“I’m surprised that you speak about that in a negative way, I am even more surprised when I hear former, big players speak about atmospheres being like something sinister, something that worries us.
“It motivates us, it is something that we want, it is something that if we could have every match, then we would have every match.
“You know, when Barcelona played against Las Palmas with an empty stadium, do you think the players were happy with that?
“Do you think Las Palmas players wouldn’t prefer to play with a Nou Camp full of people and a great atmosphere?
“We are speaking about Old Trafford, or in this case Anfield, like it’s a big problem. It’s a satisfaction, because that’s what we want.”
Manchester United will travel to Merseyside without record signing Paul Pogba, as well as fellow midfielders Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick, who are all injured.
But he has backed the players who face Jurgen Klopp’s men to rise to the challenge and reckons the more hostile Anfield is the better it will be for United.
Mourinho added: “I never see a player complain ‘oh, this atmosphere was very strong’ - we complain when the atmosphere is flat.
“When we play at home and we don’t see a big enthusiasm in the people, we complain.
“So we go to where we want to go, we go to play against a big team with a big tradition in an amazing stadium with great tradition.
“We know that the fans have huge animosity against Manchester United historically, but this is what we want so we are very happy to have one more opportunity in our careers to play in this beautiful conditions.
“It’s beautiful to play at Anfield. Beautiful.”
