(^) IN ASSOCIATION WITH
DEFENCE
truct with catalogue of errors
Joker Jose passes screen test
He began by joking that he didn’t
want to be a television pundit for
long. But Jose Mourinho joined
the line-up he has so often slated
in the past and made his
mark on his Sky Sports
debut.
Despite being scathing over
their comments in the past,
Mourinho gelled well with
Graeme Souness, Gary Neville
and Jamie Carragher in a long
six-hour stint in the studio.
He did not agree with them
on everything, however,
displaying his first eye-roll
when Souness claimed that
Frank Lampard was facing
the most difficult role as
Chelsea manager since
Roman Abramovich took charge
of the club.
As Mourinho had predicted, he
seemed to find the role easier
when he had a match to analyse.
Although he once promised he
would be the only pro-Chelsea
pundit on TV, he found little to
defend them on. He described
them as ‘too soft’, slated their
defensive line for not being
compact enough and said they
were simply not in the game
during the second half.
Lampard came in for criticism too,
with Mourinho questioning his
team selection, in particular why
Willian was not in the squad.
Yet reflecting how frustrated he
used to be by pundits’ comments,
he added: ‘One thing that I was
always very critical with is when I
am the manager and you are the
pundits sometimes you say things
that I think to myself “you don’t
know what is going on, what are
you saying, you are completely
wrong”.’
Souness highlighted their previous
beef when responding with a
smirk: ‘That is most of the time.’
Mourinho had earlier predicted
that neither United nor Chelsea
would feature in the title race,
wryly suggesting that the only
contenders were Manchester City,
Liverpool, Tottenham and
Manchester City’s B Team.
But he was full of praise for
Maguire, adding he had seen what
he had wanted to see ‘a year later’.
Despite his casual no-tie look,
Mourinho had looked stiff early on,
with his hands seemingly glued to
his thighs. And he was open about
it being difficult to be back at Old
Trafford for the first time since he
had been sacked.
But over the afternoon, he eased
into the role. Mourinho is clear he
doesn’t want to be in the studio
for long, and gave a disdainful look
when Carragher, Neville and
Souness started talking over each
other. Yet his willingness to
interrupt presenter David Jones to
elaborate on his points suggested
he was quite enjoying sitting
alongside the pundits who had
annoyed him so in the past.
LAURA LAMBERT TV REVIEW
REFEREE ANTHONY TAYLOR 7
ONE big call and VAR showed he was
right to award penalty to United.
ATTENDANCE
73,620
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER 8
DREAM start to first full
campaign as United boss.
Ideas came to fruition.
DAVID DE GEA 7
TOOK captain’s armband
and kept impressive
clean sheet with a little
help from bar and post.
AARON WAN-BISSAKA 8
EXCELLENT debut.
Defensive highlight was
brilliant recovery tackle
on Barkley in first half.
VICTOR LINDELOF 7
WILL only improve
alongside Maguire. This
was another confident
display from the Swede.
HARRY MAGUIRE 8
UNITED’S new £80million
man settled in seamlessly.
Commanding display and
let nothing get past him.
LUKE SHAW 6.
HARDLY put a foot wrong.
Another who will benefit
from being in a better,
more settled back four.
PAUL POGBA 8
BRILLIANT long-range
pass set up third goal,
then broke forward to
lay on fourth for James.
SCOTT McTOMINAY 7
PICKED over Matic after
an excellent pre-season
and continued his good
work at base of midfield.
JESSE LINGARD 7
FULL of running,
including a blistering
burst past three players
early in the second half.
ANDREAS PEREIRA 6.
STARTED at No 10 in 4-2-3-1
but switched to a wider
role and provided assist
for the second goal.
MARCUS RASHFORD 8.
CAN he be the main man
now Lukaku is gone? Two
goals in a superb showing
would suggest he can.
ANTHONY MARTIAL 7.
GIVEN central role and
his old No 9 jersey, he was
a persistent threat and
scored the second goal.
Player
Ratings
SUBSTITUTES
James 7 (for Pereira
74min), Greenwood (for
Rashford 86), Mata (for
Lingard 86.) Not used:
Romero, Tuanzebe,
Young, Matic.
FRANK LAMPARD
DISASTROUS first game in
charge exposed difficult
times he has ahead.
KEPA ARRIZABALAGA 6
COULD not be faulted for
any of the goals as
Chelsea’s defence fell
apart in the second half.
CESAR AZPILICUETA .
ALLOWED Martial to get
in front of him for second
goal and moments later
lost Rashford for third.
ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN 6
RECOVERED from blow to
the face from Pogba but
will possibly wish he had
not as it all fell apart.
KURT ZOUMA 4.
A GAME to forget. Gave
away penalty with clumsy
foul on Rashford, booked
for tackle on Pereira.
EMERSON 6.
STRUGGLED with Wan-
Bissaka’s regular forays
upfield but hit the bar
and had two shots saved.
JORGINHO .
DID NOT impress last
season and will have to
be better than this to be
a success under Lampard.
MATEO KOVACIC 6
COULD not stem flow of
United’s attacks as
Chelsea conceded three
times in the second half.
PEDRO 6.
TYPICALLY energetic down
the right but it counted
for very little as United’s
defence stood strong.
ROSS BARKLEY 6
LIVELY in the first half and
went close to scoring,
but was the first Chelsea
player to be replaced.
TAMMY ABRAHAM 6
SMACKED the post with a
fantastic shot early on
but faded after that as
United came back into it.
SUBSTITUTES
Pulisic 6 (for Barkley 58),
Giroud 6 (for Abraham
66), Kante 5.5 (for
Jorginho 73). Not used:
Caballero, Tomori,
Alonso, Kenedy.
By CHRIS WHEELER at Old TraffordTTTrafffforrddddddddd
MAN UTD 81
(4-2-3-1) TEAM AVERAGE 7.4
CHELSEA 6
(4-2-3-1) TEAM AVERAGE .9
MASON MOUNT 6.
NOT the Premier League
debut he wanted but did
not hide and always tried
to make things happen.
★
MY VERDICT
MARTIN
KEOWN
MAJESTIC MAGUIRE
NEW FOLK HERO IN
OLD TRAFFORD HAILS
HARRY MAGUIRe reads danger like
you or I would read the Beano comic.
It comes naturally to the 6ft 4in cen-
tral defender and that is what Manches-
ter United have paid good money for.
When he wins the ball, it is a cue for
United to attack. Take a look at their
second goal against Chelsea yesterday.
The england centre back wins posses-
sion by shrugging off the challenge of
Tammy Abraham on the edge of his
own penalty box. Scott McTominay
picks it up, feeds Marcus Rashford,
who then finds Andreas Pereira. He
crosses, and Anthony Martial scores.
So four passes and precisely 16 sec-
onds after Maguire steals the ball off
Abraham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s
side have a 2-0 lead.
United fans appreciate a good
defender. Later on in the game, when-
ever Maguire won a header, whenever he
cleared the danger by lumping the ball
into Row Z, it was greeted by cheers.
They love seeing that and the statis-
tics show he made the most clearances,
the most interceptions and the most
blocks. He inspired the crowd and his
team-mates here.
United kept two clean sheets in 19
Premier League outings at Old Trafford
last season. They conceded 54 goals in
total — the most of any of the Big Six —
and 25 of those came at home. Now,
they are off and running in 2019-20.
You could see the confidence coursing
through Solskjaer’s new signings in the
second half. Maguire was outstanding,
and Aaron Wan-Bissaka was solid, too.
The young right back is swift into the
challenge and never stops running.
You can see the hunger, the desire to
do well.
Daniel James came off the bench and
got his goal. The 21-year-old’s celebra-
tion said it all. The emotion, the ecstasy.
Fans connect with that.
every United supporter heading home
from Old Trafford last night will have
been saying, ‘We’ve made some good
signings there’.
Maguire is at the forefront of that. I
know of big clubs who were tracking the
26-year-old back when he was just a
teenager breaking into the first team at
Sheffield United. I was surprised when
he went to Hull for only £2.5million in
- He had potential but none of the
big boys in the Premier League took a
chance at the time.
Now, after paying £80m, Manchester
United have him. This was a very good
day for Maguire — and for Solskjaer’s
new signings.