Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United Will Thrive with Balance in Attack

BOURNEMOUTH, England — The Jose Mourinho era began for Manchester United under sunny, seaside skies at Bournemouth, and Red Devils fans had plenty to smile about. It was a comfortable, rarely-out-of-second-gear win for Mourinho’s men.

Mourinho’s just been out to inspect the pitch – looks great from here! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/RnLbGv4AHA

— Ryan Grant (@ryangrant01) August 14, 2016

Under Louis van Gaal, that level of performance would likely have meant a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 result in either direction, but Mourinho’s side had a degree of attacking purpose and a dash of quality that was so often missing during the Dutchman’s reign.

There were a few subtle and not-so subtle things which spoke to the new attacking intentions that come with the new era.

One happened during the warm-up.

Under Van Gaal, after fitness drills and some small-circle ball-retention exercises, the team would set up in one half of the pitch in formation and work the ball from front to back. A coach would give the ball to the centre-backs to begin that process, and it would start again as soon as a shot was taken.

Under Mourinho, a similar-looking drill took place. This time, though, the back four were separated out, passing the ball to each other on the touchline. It was the front six who took part in the main drill, and the coaches mixed up where the ball started from.

Sometimes they would lay it off to the deep-lying midfielder, and at others they would fizz passes up to the frontmen themselves. The whole drill spoke to the difference in approach, the emphasis on directness and quick forward passing—”verticality,” to use the tactical buzzword of the moment.

There was an incident on the pitch which reflected this. At one point, Daley Blind had possession in his own half and fizzed a long, quick, direct pass along the ground to Wayne Rooney who stood around halfway to the box in the opposition half. Mourinho offered Blind an enthusiastic thumbs-up, making sure he saw it.

It was clear that instructions were being followed.

Then there was the less subtle, more obvious effect of Ander Herrera knocking a long ball into the channel for Juan Mata to chase. Simon Francis, fresh off recovering from a painful altercation with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, got almost as much wrong in a two-second spell as it is possible for a footballer to get wrong, and Mata gratefully pounced.

While that goal brought the breakthrough which changed the game, in truth, Francis should have comfortably dealt with the incident. Herrera’s ball was, essentially, the kind of hit-and-hope pass which United were not set up to exploit.

It was an example of the increased directness of the team, certainly, but it also stands as an example of why Mourinho should …

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