Manchester
United's first Premier League game under Jose Mourinho will feel like a final
audition for many of the stars on view at Bournemouth on Sunday.
With
£100million man Paul Pogba sitting out the game due to a one-match ban, others
have the chance to show Mourinho they deserve a place in his bright new era.
Make no
mistake, Pogba is arguably the only midfield player or forward guaranteed a
Premier League place for United this season.
Everyone
else will have to fight, particularly as Mourinho has confirmed he will play
two different systems. One of those, a 4-3-3, has no room for a No 10 which
means even captain Wayne Rooney and £28m summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan will
be vulnerable.
So the
stakes on Sunday afternoon are high, on an individual as well as a team basis.
Mourinho
played 4-2-3-1 in United's pre-season games, with Rooney in behind Zlatan
Ibrahimovic. His success when he first arrived at Chelsea was built on a 4-3-3,
in which flying wingers Damien Duff and Arjen Robben operated either side of
Didier Drogba.
This time,
Mourinho has to create a properly functioning XI using 25 top-class
internationals.
Unlike most
managers who keep their cards close to their chest, Mourinho has the confidence
to explain what he is trying to do beforehand — rather like boxer Muhammad Ali
used to predict the rounds in which he would stop his opponents.
'Two
systems. Two systems,' he emphasised. 'Players are only comfortable when they
know what to do. So we are not going to play three, four, five or 10 systems.
'The principles
of play that we work on every day are about systems with lots of similarities,
in order for the players to be comfortable with that.
'The systems
are adapted to their qualities so we can get the best out of them, and so we
can adapt to the qualities of our opponents if that's the case.
'Eventually,
during a match, sometimes you are pushed to different situations, but what is
most important is that the players should feel comfortable on the pitch.'
After a
spending blitz on Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan and £30m defender Eric Bailly,
Mourinho and everyone else expects United to challenge at the top.
That journey
begins on Sunday without banned Pogba, who will stay in Manchester to boost his
fitness.
Everywhere
he looks, Mourinho is spoilt for choice. Assuming he plays 4-2-3-1 on Sunday,
he has Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick and Marouane
Fellaini competing for two places.
Rooney will
start as No 10 aware that Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata can do the job if he
falters. Ibrahimovic has Marcus Rashford breathing down his neck at No 9 and
the choices out wide are plentiful. Last weekend's Wembley hero, Jesse Lingard,
Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay and Ashley Young.
Mkhitaryan
can play in a 4-2-3-1 but not really in a 4-3-3 when out-and-out pace is the
key.
No wonder
Mourinho is looking forward to the real stuff having traipsed around China,
Sweden, Wigan and Wembley for pre-season familiarisation.
'I don't
like friendlies. Friendlies give me a strange feeling,' he said. 'You want to
win but at the same time, there are more important things than winning.
'You go to
the game and the changes are already organised before it starts, it doesn't
matter what the result is at half-time. I don't like the feeling. I like
competition.
'The Premier
League is the marathon and this is the starting point of a long marathon. Yes,
I'm excited. I like this. Even when we're not playing, I try to know the
results, who scored, who is winning and losing. It's special.'
Nine younger
players have left United since Mourinho arrived. But he still believes if you
are good enough, then you are old enough and 18-year-old Rashford will have his
part to play this season.
'I like him
a lot,' said Mourinho. 'Of course, he's a young boy. At his age, he can have
ups and downs, and you have to be ready to support him if that's the case. But
potentially, he's a very good player. He knows how to be a professional, the
way he works, the way he lives — very good. He's one of my important players.
He will play a lot.'
At the other
end of the age scale, Rooney knows he is no longer the biggest fish in the pond
as he approaches his 31st birthday.
He will be
keen to seize his chance on Sunday because he looks particularly vulnerable if
Mourinho switches to a 4-3-3 when Pogba is available, starting against
Southampton at Old Trafford on Friday.
A 4-3-3 does
not require a No 10, Mourinho has already dismissed the captain's chances of
playing in midfield and he does not have the speed to play wide. Vice-captain
Carrick, who at 35 is starting his 11th season with the club, welcomes the
competition.
'I have said
all along this club needs the best players to push and challenge each other,'
he said.
'It's good
to have a couple of big personalities come into the dressing room. It feels
like a good mix. It's only a part of it though, we need to get the results.'
It is
Mourinho's job to make that happen.
Given the
quality of players at his disposal, nobody is safe if they want to play with
Pogba in the Premier League rather than be part of the Thursday night Europa
League side.
And he will
use that fear factor to keep standards high.
'People can
use all the words they want but the reality is that no player is happy when he
is not playing,' said Mourinho.
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