The Dutchman is set to take on Mourinho’s Fenerbahce team in the Europa League in midweek.
As he prepares for the game on Thursday in Turkey, he was asked about his work at United compared to Mourinho’s.
Ten Hag stated: “Yes, Mourinho and I, we won a lot of trophies in the last years. But you have to prove yourself every year and when you don’t win, we are always under criticism.
“We know that, we are experienced enough. Professional football is about winning games. When you don’t win games, criticism is coming, but we also know it’s about how you are in the end of the year.
“Mourinho is so experienced, he will lead his team to its best form and will be successful and so will we. We are convinced we are in the right direction and if we follow the right path, we will achieve what our targets are.”
On Fener having a few ex-United players, such as Fred and Sofyan Amrabat, he added: “Fenerbahce is a very good team with a lot of good players. We know some. Fred, a long time at Manchester United, very experienced. We won the Carabao Cup with him.
“With Sofyan Amrabat, we won the FA Cup, very experienced also and very good in the World Cup. Dusan Tadic: (I have a) long history with him at Ajax, won also a lot of trophies with him. They have so many experienced and good players and they have an experienced coach, so these are very good players, very good team.
“We will not underestimate them, we will not overestimate them. We have to play our own game. We love to play in this environment, we’re really looking forward and we’re always looking forward (to playing) against good teams, because that’s why you become a professional footballer: to go for these challenges.”