PL Hangover: Pogba, Zlatan and Mourinho Give Man United the Swagger of Champions

In his seminal profile of Frank Sinatra for Esquire magazine in 1966, American writer and journalist Gay Talese wrote of his subject, “Frank Sinatra had a cold. Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without paint, Ferrari without fuel—only worse.”

Had he wished to make his point with a sledgehammer, he might have added: “Manchester United without swagger.” When Sir Alex Ferguson retired his seat in the dugout for one in the Old Trafford gods, it was as though in clearing out his office he mistakenly packed the club’s DNA in with his own belongings. He has yet to return it.

Indeed, Manchester United with a cold seems an apt summation of the post-Ferguson years to date.

In three competitive matches, Jose Mourinho has done as much as David Moyes and Louis van Gaal managed in three seasons between them to remind the world Ferguson was the gatekeeper to a great institution, as opposed to being the institution itself.

Just 180 minutes into a new Premier League season is hardly the time to make great proclamations. Yet to be cautious at a juncture when Crystal Palace can sign a misfiring striker for £27 million (the fee for Christian Benteke could rise to £32 million with add-ons) with not even a cursory eyebrow raised, would seem at odds with an all-pervading sense of largesse that has either infused or infected English football’s top flight, depending on your respective sensibilities.

Throwing caution to the wind, then—or, as it may turn out, pissing directly into it with 36 of 38 matches still to play—Manchester United have the look of champions. It appears to have jelled far more quickly than anyone could have envisaged for Mourinho and United. 

For the first time since Ferguson retired they appear to be driving forward cohesively, as opposed to nervously glancing at the wing mirror every other second to check what has followed in their wake. 

Summary of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s start to life at Manchester United: