Mourinho’s United full of promise
LONDON: On Friday night there may have been a moment, after referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, when Wayne Rooney fondly imagined he might still be Manchester United’s penalty taker.
He eyed the target happily. Here we go. Game over. Manchester United goal No 247, coming right up.
And then a giant man with a topknot calmly collected the ball and placed it on the penalty spot. Rooney lives in Zlatan’s world now. And in Zlatan’s world only one man gets to take the penalties. Here’s a clue: it’s not Wayne Rooney.
So Zlatan Ibrahimovic stepped up and stuck the ball, smartly, low to Fraser Forster’s right. It was his second goal of the night and Man- chester United were 2-0 up. Meaning all was right in Zlatan’s world.
What an impact he has made at this club. That is four goals in three games, including the Community Shield, but even without them, his huge presence alone would have changed the dynamic.
He is what Rooney has needed for several years now; a proper goalscoring foil. A partner who wants to take responsibility, to shoulder as much as share the load.
Ibrahimovic’s first goal was a header from a quite magnificent cross by Rooney – even if he was given too much room to deliver it by Steven Davis – and while the pair keep harmonising like this, United will in all likelihood remain the team to beat in the Premier League title race.
So Rooney won’t have minded his demotion, whether he was forewarned or not. This is perhaps the Manchester United team he had in mind when he went to Alex Ferguson and rather impertinently asked about transfer policy.
Rooney, Mata, Ibrahimovic, Pogba: that is some roll call. That is how a Manchester United build-up should sound.
Jose Mourinho has started aiming for the stars again; aiming for exactly where Manchester United should be.
And, yes, it is only two games, and there are tougher opponents out there than Bournemouth and Southampton. But Southampton did finish sixth last season, just a place behind United, and they won 1-0 on their last two visits to Old Trafford.
Southampton did not play badly, but never looked like winning.
They had 10 shots at the United goal, but forced a single save from David De Gea and capitulated in the second-half by conceding a foolish penalty that as good as ended the game.
Of course, all eyes were on world record signing Pogba, making his debut after an £89m transfer from Juventus.
Pogba’s passing wasn’t always exemplary, but that sometimes happens with a player who is involved as much as he is. No doubt wanting to make an impression, he was everywhere. Up in support of the forwards, back helping out the defenders – the sort of midfield powerhouse Arsenal once boasted in Patrick Vieira. – Daily Mail