Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has received backing from the unlikeliest of sources - Manchester United assistant boss Carlos Queiroz.
Benitez has endured a difficult month in which his relationship with the club's American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks was thrust into the spotlight after a very public disagreement on transfer policy.
The Spaniard was also put under pressure by his team's struggle to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, although that was finally achieved with a 4-0 victory over Marseille in midweek.
Arch-rivals United are next up at Anfield on Sunday but ahead of that clash Queiroz has offered his support to Benitez.
"After everything Rafa has done for Liverpool he doesn't deserve to be under this kind of pressure," said the Portuguese. "I've known him for a long time and he is a great coach and a great man."
Queiroz felt the example of Benitez's situation at Anfield, coupled with the number of Premier League managers who have already lost their jobs this season, suggested a change of attitude among English clubs.
"I think the bad things of Continental football are arriving in England," he said. "It is really strange because in the last five years there has been a definite change.
"I don't know the exact data but there are definitely more coaches under pressure than at any other time I can remember. This is not a good thing. It is a bad thing."
