That’s the view of former Premier League midfielder-turned-pundit Trevor Sinclair.
Mourinho is under pressure at United after a poor start to the new season which has seen the Red Devils lose three of their opening eight Premier League games.
The Portuguese boss looked to be on his way out of Old Trafford with United 2-0 down to Newcastle in their last Premier League game.
But goals from Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez turned the game around and arguably saved Mourinho his job.
But Sinclair believes Woodward needs to be more sympathetic towards the former Chelsea man after a death in the family.
“At United, Jose needs backing,” Sinclair told the Daily Mail.
“I always look at the human part.
“He lost his dad not long ago — it takes a lot to get over.”
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes is desperate for Mourinho to turn United’s fortunes around, but the England hero says the situation might be too far gone.
When asked by ESPN whether United’s stars aren’t playing for Mourinho, Scholes said: “It’s hard for me to say because I was never in a team, be it Manchester United or England, where I went out with the intention of getting a manager sacked. I never went out and thought ‘I’ll not try’.
“I’m not saying that any Man United player has ever done that but you hear so much stuff now that you think it could be possible.
“I’d hate that if it’s true, if any player set out to play badly on purpose. I’ve had loads of bad games, but never on purpose.
“The big thing with United is the effort and the attitude. When you looked at the West Ham game last week, it looked like the biggest sign of players not wanting to play for Jose, but I would not sack him.
“I hope the situation is retrievable. I’d like Jose to show people why he’s such a great coach because this is his biggest test in football. It’d be amazing [if he could turn it around]. Is it possible? I don’t know.
“He still is [a good manager]. Well, I think he still is, but you wonder why his side keep getting outplayed. People talk about the first 10 games of this season but last year it was the same.
“The reason we finished second last year was because of the goalkeeper. Good goalkeepers are not easy to find. [David] De Gea’s not been quite as good this season, not saving them all like did all last year.”