Manchester United striker Lukaku also said his manager should get more respect, branding the boss as a “real family guy” who “makes the players laugh”.
Manchester United stars including Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Eric Bailly and Paul Pogba have all incurred Mourinho’s wrath of late but Lukaku believes some of them need to develop a thicker skin.
“Sometimes footballers, we get soft a little bit,” said Lukaku, speaking to BBC’s Football Focus.
“If I listen to players from back in the day and now a manager cannot say what he wants to a player because you feel attacked.
“But I don’t feel attacked because that’s who I am – I’m a tough man. But that doesn’t come from football, that comes from my background.
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“My relationship with him [Mourinho] is cool. He makes me laugh, he makes the players laugh, he’s a real family guy.
“He fights for his players but he’s real. When you’re not happy you don’t need to fake your emotions.
“People need to appreciate that. At least there are people who are real in this world like him because most of the managers in the league, when they’re not happy they try to find a way to seem happy.
“You should respect that he wants to keep his own personality and not shy away from confrontation.”
Shaw could feature for Manchester United despite being concussed during England’s Nations League defeat by Spain last Saturday.
Shaw clattered into Dani Carvajal before bouncing off the turf and was taken off on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask and a neck brace.
Shaw remained with England for two nights of assessment before returning to United on Monday and Mourinho has revealed there is a chance he could feature today.
Watford can go top of the table for the first time since 1982 and manager Javi Gracia has lavished praise on striker Troy Deeney, the club’s longest-serving player having joined from Walsall in 2010.
“From the moment I arrived in January, Troy has always been the same,” said Gracia.
“He always has a good attitude, working hard and showing the rest of the players as a captain what is important for the team. Putting the main objective as thinking of the team and not only the individual and that is important for the club.”