Three things for United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late header ensured Jose Mourinho’s first competitive game as Manchester United manager saw the club pick up a trophy as they beat Premier League champions Leicester 2-1 at Wembley. Adam Bate picks out the United talking points…

More Mourinho drama?

Manchester United supporters want a manager not afraid to make the big decisions. On Sunday at Wembley, Jose Mourinho showed that he can be uncompromising over the small ones too – substituting his substitute, Juan Mata, with just moments of the game remaining.

Given that Mourinho had played down the significance of the Community Shield, it would have been easy enough for him to leave Mata on rather than risk the drama of upsetting a player with whom he’s had a fractious relationship with in the past.

Instead, for Mourinho, logic prevailed. With Leicester launching a series of aerial attacks and with United keen to use their final substitution in order to further delay proceedings, removing the smallest United player on the pitch made sense to the manager.

It’s a reminder that Mourinho is only interested in winning and will do whatever he thinks is necessary to achieve it. Mata, to his credit, appeared to understand that quickly enough and it’s a lesson that team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger has had to learn too this summer.

It’s an abrasiveness that contrasts sharply with the decision-making …

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