things we learned

Einsteins taught a lesson

Jose Mourinho’s old siege mentality is still having an effect after all these years. After three straight defeats, he used his programme notes to galvanise the club in the face of outside criticism — or ‘Einsteins’ as he referred to them. ‘During the week we are not on holiday, we have no time for posh dinners in restaurants, we don’t feed the vanity of the opinion-makers,’ he wrote. ‘The boys need support after hearing and reading cruel comments.’

A case of Wayne who?

Wayne Rooney has to accept he is a squad player now. He was a guaranteed starter under Louis van Gaal, and Mourinho kept him as captain in the No 10 role, but he can no longer be a shoo-in for this team. The moment he was taken out of the firing line, United scored four goals in the first half. Juan Mata offered more creativity in the No 10 role.

Title defence in tatters

Leicester need to get back to basics. Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez may have lit up the Premier League last season, but the club’s stunning title success was built on solid defence. Despite Kasper Schmeichel’s injury problems and the departure of defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante, Claudio Ranieri has been able to call on the same back four but at the moment they look vulnerable. United scored three from Daley Blind’s corners.

Pogba comes to the party

Paul Pogba is starting to find his feet back at Old Trafford. Against Leicester, we saw a big improvement. Freed from defensive duties to a greater extent, Pogba got forward to cause Leicester all sorts of problems. He was involved in the build-up to the first and second goals, and headed the fourth himself.

Jose’s finding his way

Louis van Gaal’s fingerprints may not be so hard to wipe away after all. Mourinho repeated after this win that he has to erase his predecessor’s ‘philosophy’ before he can truly make his own mark on United. ‘Myself and Mr Van Gaal see football in a different way,’ said Mourinho. Here, though, United were enterprising and exciting.