Speaking to the press at the Santiago Bernabeu on the eve of Real Madrid's LaLiga trip to face Rayo Vallecano, Mourinho was asked about the whistles Vinicius Junior has received from sections of the home support at points this season. The Portuguese coach pointed to the Brazilian's track record as evidence he deserved patience rather than criticism.
"There's a similar proverb in Portuguese: you only throw stones at trees that bear fruit," Mourinho said. "What has Vinicius done here? How many Champions Leagues has he won? How many goals has he scored? How many ties has he decided? The Vinicius who single-handedly finished off the tie against Benfica last year is going to arrive.
"He's not there yet. He works harder than ever. In an era of data, he's very close to his maximum speed. He's broken his own records this season, including for balls recovered. He's going to arrive."
Mourinho also defended Kylian Mbappe against suggestions that his goalscoring puts the collective at a disadvantage, echoing comments the Frenchman had made himself in a separate interview published by L'Equipe this week.
"The same phrase about fruit applies to Mbappe. Kylian is right: a player who scores 40 goals every season is not a problem for the team," Mourinho said. "There are different types of people, those who understand and those who don't, and the latter know that talking about good things doesn't suit them. I've seen Kylian come back with 10 men to help Cucurella while an annoying coach was shouting at him. I value that kind of behaviour a great deal. Then these people don't say that we defended well, or that we could have scored eight. Against Inter they could have scored four, but we could have scored eight. Why don't they say that?"
Asked about goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who opted out of Belgium's Nations League squad this month, Mourinho backed the decision.
"He knows the club wants him, he's young for a goalkeeper, and he's decided not to be with his national team in the Nations League. He'll have time to rest and be focused on Madrid. He's here, he had a great game," Mourinho said.
The head coach also dismissed suggestions of friction between teammates Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde.
"I haven't done anything, they've done everything. The empathy and friendship that exist in the group, going to the bench angry, supporting those who are going to help. The group is fantastic," Mourinho said. "If I hadn't known anything and arrived without knowing anything, I would have thought they were great friends. I haven't been the Minister for Peace. They've built a group that I like a lot."
Real Madrid, who beat Inter Milan in their Champions League opener after suffering their first LaLiga defeat of the season at Real Betis, host Rayo Vallecano looking to return to winning ways domestically.