Jose faces big decisions

LONDON. — Jose Mourinho’s season has already started.

Six weeks after lifting the Europa League in Stockholm, Manchester United are back in training.

The squad will spend a week at UCLA in California ahead of pre-season games against the LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valerenga and Sampdoria.

It gives Mourinho seven games to decide what his best team is before the UEFA Super Cup with Real Madrid in Macedonia on August 8, and the English Premier League opener against West Ham at Old Trafford five days later.

He will hope, by then, that Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku are not his only new signings.

But while he’s away, there are still plenty of issues for him to deal with.

Who should be captain? Wayne Rooney’s departure to Everton means United are looking for a new captain.

Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba, Antonio Valencia and David De Gea have all been mentioned as candidates and it’s Mourinho’s job to decide who is best suited for the role.

Michael Carrick has done it before. But, at nearly 36, it’s debatable how much he will play next season. Herrera said in May that he’s not ready. And it might add unnecessary pressure on Pogba at a time when he is just starting to find his feet.

Who’s the best left-back? Left-back became a problem position for Mourinho last season. He started with Luke Shaw but seemed to quickly lose faith.

Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Ashley Young had a go before Mourinho finally settled on Matteo Darmian, even though the Italian is a natural right-back.

Shaw has travelled to the United States despite not being fully fit while Rojo is out until at least December with a knee ligament injury suffered at the end of last season.

It leaves Mourinho with just Blind and Darmian and youngster Demetri Mitchell for back up.

Does Victor Lindelof start from day one? Defending was not United’s problem last season. — The Telegraph.