Mata And Mkhitaryan Helping To Bring Fear Factor Back To Mourinho’s United

Mata And Mkhitaryan Helping To Bring Fear Factor Back To Mourinho’s United

Manchester United’s win against fallen champions Leicester on Sunday made it fifteen games unbeaten in the league, a run going back to the 4-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in October.

That run is not only impressive in terms of the side’s turnaround from their mediocre form earlier in the campaign, but points to something larger going on at Old Trafford.

The last time the Red Devils put such a string on league results together was under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson.


The ride that those in the red half of Manchester have been on since the departure of the Scotsman, with the failed tenures of both David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.

However, with the appointment of Jose Mourinho, who had held the job firmly in his sights for years, over the summer a new air of confidence was brought into the club.

They went about their summer transfer business in such a manner that befitted the stature of the club, something which had been missing for a long time.

Despite their struggles earlier this season, Mourinho & Co. have well and truly turned things around and, whilst it not might come this time around, success is almost guaranteed over the coming years.

The Portuguese has his side travelling around the country and imposing similar performances to that of Sir Alex’s teams and is slowly but surely bringing that fear factor back to Old Trafford.

The performance at the home of the champions on Sunday more than showed this. The Red Devils strolled to a 3-0 win, capped with the swagger of Juan Mata’s third goal. The fact that the Spaniard was only shown a yellow for a challenge that many would have deemed worthy of a dismissal could point to the fact that Mourinho is beginning to have the same effect as Sir Alex did on officials.

The man-of-the-match performance yet again of Henrik Mkhitaryan with the stunning opening goal means that United finally have the supporting cast to Zlatan Ibrahimovic fully firing and are taking the goal-scoring pressure off the superlative Swede.

The fear, the swagger and the confidence are all part of what makes a real Manchester United team, and Mourinho is slowly putting those factors together again whilst continuing to attract the best talent in world football.

The EFL Cup final against Southampton at the end of this month presents the first chance for the former Chelsea boss to bring some silverware of any worth back to Manchester and, given his record in the competition, you’d expect that to be almost a formality.

Should his side bag the League Cup, there is no reason the surge, which began in October, cannot continue, with the FA Cup and Europa League still in plain view.

The Premier League title race is all but over for this season, however, with an aura befitting the biggest club in world football returning to Old Trafford, there is no saying what Mourinho can do with this side over the next few years.