Monday 8 August 2016 15:20, UK
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 of the last United manager to win this trophy. David Moyes once intimated that he'd kept Robin van Persie on the pitch because he was worried what people would think if he took off his star striker.
Mourinho is not afraid what his own players think let alone the media and supporters. He wanted to see out the game and did what he thought best to do so. Eyebrows will have been raised but this is the winning mentality that United want the manager to bring back.
Ibrahimovic gets his goal
Of course, Mourinho now possesses a centre-forward who shares that mentality and his new No 9 didn't disappoint on debut, scoring the Wembley winner. Ibrahimovic certainly knows how to make an entrance and lapped up the adulation afterwards.
It's trophy number 31 for the veteran Swedish striker. Who's counting? He is. Although, in truth, after an impudent flick with his first touch, Ibrahimovic struggled to find his best form. His link-up play was sloppy at times and the partnership with Wayne Rooney needs work.
But few have towered over Wes Morgan like he did in the last 12 months, a reminder that the physicality of the Premier League won't be an issue. United have their big-name striker and their big-game striker now. When it mattered, he was the difference between the sides.
Bailly impresses on debut
Even so, while Ibrahimovic may have stolen the headlines with his winning goal, his wasn't the best Manchester United debut on the day. That honour belonged to Ivorian centre-back Eric Bailly, the club's £30m summer signing from Villarreal.
If Paul Pogba has been the transfer saga of the summer, Ibrahimovic the shirt-sellers' dream and Henrik Mkhitaryan the continental experts' pick, what of Bailly? Even Mourinho has acknowledged that the young defender might not be ready for the challenge.
However, on this evidence Bailly is further along the journey to the top than might have been thought. In particular, he dealt well with the pace of Jamie Vardy - something that did for most of the central defenders in the Premier League last term.
Fifteen minutes in, Bailly outmuscled Vardy to the delight of the United fans behind the goal. Ten minutes later there was a well-timed tackle in the box when the margin of error was slim. A header from the resulting corner hinted at concentration as well as athleticism.
Bailly is not the finished article, as shown by his second-half booking, but neither is this Manchester United team. The important thing for the supporters is that under Mourinho - the ultimate winner - there can be a conviction that they're on the path to getting there.
