You don’t catch Jose once he’s ahead
HAS ANYONE GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO STAND UP TO
ONE of the more peculiar aspects of Louis van Gaal’s time in charge of Manchester United was the Dutchman’s admission that his team weren’t tall enough.
It seemed impolite at the time to point out to Van Gaal that he had four transfer windows, 13 new signings costing a total of a quarter of a billion pounds and Google to address that particular issue.
Jose Mourinho, on the other hand, has no problem in this department.
His United are what you might call super-sized. A very big football team that could almost be mistaken for a rugby team when Romelu Lukaku strides out of the tunnel behind his good friend Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic. It is proving very effective.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s first title winners prided themselves on the fact that they could stand toe to toe with Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang as well as outclassing the best in the Premier League.
Ferguson was not afraid to use brute strength when required and Mourinho, too, has always liked to pack his teams with power and athleticism.
Having brought the force of nature that is Pogba back to Old Trafford a year ago, he has added two more imposing six-footers in Matic and Lukaku.
Ironically, his smallest signing this summer is a centre back, Victor Lindelof, at 6ft 1in.
Of course, there is more to this than simply filling the team with big men. Mourinho’s recruits are all gifted footballers. But there is no doubt they have brought a greater physical presence to the squad he inherited at Old Trafford.
The United manager has no qualms about using Marouane Fellaini to maximum effect and young Marcus Rashford is maturing into a muscular striker, having grown an inch in the last year.
There is a sheer animal strength to Mourinho’s side that wasn’t there before and it has given them a new dimension — even if Pogba was a little fortunate to avoid a second yellow card in the first half against Swansea.
At the Liberty Stadium, United faced a situation that may have been beyond them last season; one that could have ended in another of those frustrating draws that damaged their title challenge in Mourinho’s first campaign.
Instead, they forced Swansea into conceding just before halftime, a rare set-piece goal under Paul Clement, and never looked back. When that goal still separated the sides after 75 minutes, Mourinho made the same change as he did in the opening win against West Ham: 6ft 4in Fellaini on for the 5ft 7in Juan Mata.
It was a power play. The big Belgian took up a deep position alongside Matic, releasing Pogba further forward, and United scored three goals in the space of a mere three minutes and 41 seconds to take the game away from their opponents.
Lukaku claimed the second and Pogba swept forward to score an excellent third before breaking again to assist Anthony Martial for the fourth.
‘Let the horses run freely,’ was Mourinho’s assessment of the late surge and his team are certainly a daunting sight at full gallop.
Clement wore the resigned smile of a man who knew his team had been overpowered by a superior force. ‘It’s a different Man United,’ said the Swansea head coach.
So can United strike fear into the rest of the Premier League? It is a question that must remain unanswered until they face a team of real quality.
Swansea were well organised until that late collapse, but are lacking in attack. Jordan Ayew hit the bar here, but Tammy Abraham struggled. ‘It’s his second game at this level,’ said Clement. ‘It’s going to be a brilliant learning experience for him but he’s not here on work experience. He’s here to deliver.’ SUPER STAT: Manchester United have scored four or more goals in their opening two league games for the first time since 1907. SWANSEA CITY (3-5-2): Fabianski 5.5; Mawson 5.5, Bartley 6 (Routledge 67min, 5), Fernandez 5; Naughton 6, Carroll 6, Mesa 5.5 (Narsingh 67, 6), Fer 6.5, Olsson 6; Ayew 6.5, Abraham 6 (McBurnie 82). Subs not used: Nordfeldt, Van der Hoorn, Rangel, Fulton. Booked: Fer. Manager: Paul Clement 5. MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6.5; Valencia 6, Bailly 7, Jones 6.5, Blind 6; Pogba 8, Matic 7.5; Rashford 7.5 (Martial 75, 7), Mata 6 (Fellaini 75, 6), Mkhitaryan 7 (Herrera 85); Lukaku 6.5. Subs not used: Romero, Lindelof, Smalling, Lingard. Scorers: Bailly 45, Lukaku 80, Pogba 82, Martial 84. Booked: Pogba. Manager: Jose Mourinho 7. Man of the match: Paul Pogba. Referee: Jon Moss 6. Attendance: 20,862.