1. Man United are genuine title contenders
“I THINK THEY’LL win it. They’ve got a good squad and a manager who knows how to win the league.”
Former Man United assistant boss Ryan Giggs sounds confident the Red Devils can win the Premier League this season, and they certainly looked like genuine contenders on the basis of tonight’s display.
Ibrahimovic and Pogba will grab the headlines, but — against a decent Southampton side — the team’s performance as a collective will have pleased Jose Mourinho more than anything else.
At home to the Saints — a team they finished just three points ahead of last season — the hosts rarely looked troubled, and were well worth their 2-0 victory.
Moreover, worryingly for the rest of the Premier League, United are already looking like a classic Jose Mourinho side, with plenty of height and physicality throughout the team, as well as being well organised defensively and ruthlessly efficient in the final third.
2. Toothless Southampton
As sharp as Man United were this evening, neutrals will have been disappointed at what was a lacklustre Southampton display.
They may have lost key players in Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama in the summer, in addition to losing the influential Oriol Romeu through injury early on, but the Saints still put out a strong enough side to give a better account of themselves at Old Trafford tonight.
Claude Puel’s men were particularly underwhelming in the final third, with Shane Long, Nathan Redmond and Dušan Tadić all lacking the ruthlessness in front of goal that Ibrahimovic displayed down the other end.
To be fair though, Mourinho’s tactics also played a big part in quelling Southampton’s threat — the visitors’ biggest asset is their pace on the counter attack, but the United back four sat deep for the most part with the centre-backs consequently seldom exposed by the speed of Long or Redmond.
3. Ibrahimovic double overshadows Pogba debut
Amid all the talk of his €105 million transfer, it’s easy to forget that Paul Pogba is human like the rest of us.
He displayed signs of nerves early on tonight, conceding possession sloppily and enabling Southampton to launch a counter attack after just a few seconds of the match.
Pogba improved thereafter, however, and produced what most pundits agreed was an assured re-start to life at Man United, showing great energy, formidable physicality and a few clever touches over the course of the 90 minutes.
Yet the 23-year-old midfielder’s second United debut was overshadowed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who produced an imposing, match-winning performance.
After a quiet enough opening 35 minutes, Ibrahimovic suddenly came to life, scoring his second Premier League goal in as many games, as he towered above Jose Fonte to powerfully head home the opening goal.
On 52 minutes, the Swedish striker then made the game safe, scoring a penalty after Jordy Clasie’s pitiful attempt at a challenge on Luke Shaw prompted the referee to correctly award the spot-kick.
Early-season form can be deceptive — Angel Di Maria had a hugely encouraging start to life at United before fading badly — but for now, there are some very promising signs for Ibrahimovic and United in general.
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