5 things we've learned about Manchester United so far this season 

4. Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are indispensable to United’s defensive set up

Phil Jones has been United rock this season.

Jose Mourinho’s footballing philosophy has always been built on a rock-solid defence which then lays the foundation for the counter-attacking brand of football that he endorses. And in all of the teams that the Portuguese manager has coached till date, he has always had two warriors at the heart of his defence who believe in nothing but no-nonsense defending.

While John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho did this for Mourinho during his first spell at Chelsea, Pepe and Sergio Ramos did the same when ‘Mou’ was in charge of Real Madrid. More notably, Mourinho led Inter Milan to the Champions League title in 2010 using the same ploy. And now, at the beginning of the ongoing season, the 54-year-old chose to deploy the same tactic with United as well using Phil Jones and Eric Bailly as his respective defensive mainstays. And the decision certainly paid dividends for United in the initial stages of their domestic campaign as they looked compact and watertight at the back.

Both Jones and Bailly seemed to form a good understanding at the back which was one of the main reasons why United made a flying start to their domestic campaign and also managed to keep more than a few clean sheets initially. However, as luck would have it both Jones and Bailly have gone on to pick up injuries at different stages ever since and United’s defence has not looked half as assured in the absence of the preferred duo. Now that, Jones is back for United, Bailly’s return can’t come soon enough for Mourinho’s men as they enter the second half of the season.