5 reasons to believe Jose Mourinho is a changed man at Manchester United

Manchester United- The most successful team in British football history and one of the biggest sporting franchises in the world.

Mourinho- One of the greatest tactical masterminds of the 21st century, with league titles in four different countries and European titles in two. Both connected together by a common thread and a common goal- to reclaim lost glory.

Since the great Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down from the helm at Old Trafford in 2013, Manchester United have not been able to reach those heights of total domination that saw them command proceedings in the Premier League.

A similar case can be accounted for Mourinho as well, who was dismissed by Chelsea midway through a disastrous title defence in 2015. Two of football's most arrogant figures have joined hands and have been working in tandem for over a year now. And it takes a keen eye to notice a few changes this great club has made on one of the game's toughest characters.

5. Youth players

Jose Mourinho with Marcus Rashford

Right from the Busby Babes of the 1950s and the illustrious class of 92' comprising of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville to today's Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and a certain Paul Pogba, Manchester United boast an enviable list of players that have graduated from their famed academy.

In fact, the team sheet that has been put up for every match since 1938 consists of at least one of their own products. There is no clearer indication as to the extent to which the club's hierarchy value this notion.

On the other hand, Mourinho has often come under heavy criticism for not giving young players and youth players, who have worked their way up the academy the minutes they deserve, in the top flight.

Many critics pondered how such a mismatch would work out. His predecessor, Louis Van Gaal had given debuts to an array of youth players, most notably of which were Marcus Rashford and Timothy Fosu-Mensah who were part of the first team along with the already established Jesse Lingard.

But contrary to popular belief, even after the signing of the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rashford was a regular name on the team sheet and pitched in with crucial goals on their way to Europa League triumph in 2017.

Lingard filled up the spaces playing frequently and Fosu Mensah occasionally provided cover for Antonio Valencia. In fact, Manchester United academy products played more than twice as many Premier League minutes than any other side in last season's Premier League, according to a Press Association Sport study. Goes down well with the Old Trafford faithful.

4. Mourinho and the media

Mourinho circled by the media

Okay, let's face it. Throughout his illustrious managerial career, there have been a number of instances of clashes between the press and Mourinho, particularly at Chelsea. Mourinho has publicly lashed out at the media a few times and irked many a journalist. The most famed one was the "Campain against Chelsea" fiasco in which he burst out against not being awarded them a penalty at Southampton.

He said, "The media, commentators, other managers are all doing it [putting pressure on referees].There is a campaign against Chelsea. I don't know why there is this campaign and I do not care."

Another example was what Mourinho said during a press conference in 2015: "You don’t get from me good and funny headlines. I’m going to treat your bosses the same way they treat me. No respect, no respect. And I’m not speaking about football. Football I’m ready to accept any kind of criticism, even the stupid ones."

He openly labelled Arsene Wenger a "specialist in failure" and had a war of words with the then Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.

After his move to the red half of Manchester, Mourinho has been on the quieter side as far as his communication with the media is concerned. Although Mourinho prioritised Europa league triumph over a top-four finish in the league in 16-17, the performances on the pitch rarely matched United's results in the league.

They dominated matches and created tons and tons of scoring chances but a poor conversion rate in front of goal often resulted in a draw. And for someone like Mourinho for whom 3 points are all that matters, this would have been seemingly frustrating beyond words. Yet, he always maintained his composure when subjected to criticism and always took full responsibility for his side's results, diverting the pressure from his players to himself.

United are off to a high flying start this season and with a squad that finally looks capable of challenging for the Premier League trophy, it would be interesting to see how things pan out in the coming months.

3. The Wayne Rooney conundrum

Mourinho and Rooney in 2017

Wayne Rooney- Manchester United and England's captain and record goal scorer, of whom Jose Mourinho had been an avid admirer had even tried to prise him away from United in the past. Wayne Rooney is, without question, one of the greatest players English football has ever seen and has been a consistent presence in the league for over 15 years.

But over a couple of years, Rooney's decline in form was evident. Perhaps his stunning versatility was his enemy, or it may be expected of someone who started his top-flight career at 16 years of age. And with the signing of Ibrahimovic and emergence of Rashford, it was evident that Rooney's playing time was going to be limited up front.

Meanwhile, Jose preferred a midfield three of Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and record signing Paul Pogba, with Fellaini called upon towards the business end of games. Although all these factors contributed to his limited playing time, Rooney was given his chances by Mourinho in cup games and the Europa league and played around 1500 minutes of football in the league, scoring 5 goals.

Whenever questioned about Rooney's future or the player himself, Mourinho always spoke highly of him and emphasized on the character and experience he adds to an otherwise young team. He also highlighted that he wanted Rooney to stay but won't block a move if Rooney wanted to leave the club.

After Rooney rejoined Everton, Mourinho said, “I miss him a lot, I miss the guy a lot, I think he’s a fantastic guy, “I’m not the kind of guy that gets normally emotional in my job and I did it with him when he left, but I am sure that he’s going to be very good for Everton, and Everton is going to be very good for him."

"Wayne was a very positive influence. We cannot say we are going to improve the group because Wayne left. No way, or the other way around. He was such an important guy and a good guy for us. I just think it is a new period without that face, without that leader, without that good influence on us."

Now, as rightly said by the man himself, there never was a time when Mourinho mixed his personal emotions with his job. For him, what matters most is winning and was someone who would go to any length for the overall benefit of his team.

This statement coming \from a man who benched Balon d'Or winners like Andriy Shevchenko and Ricardo Kaka caught everyone by surprise and has proven, to an extent, that he is traversing the road he seldom does, at United.

2. Relationship with the Board

Mourinho pictured with Manchester United's CEO Ed Woodward

With the heavy influx of money at Chelsea by Russian billionaire which was complemented by the tactical prowess of Jose Mourinho, Chelsea won the league title after 50 years in 2004-05 and successfully defended it the following season.

A new club was trying its luck in stopping the hegemony of Manchester United. And many believed that this new formed manager-owner relationship was the foundation of this sudden success. But the relationship ended abruptly in 2007 when Mourinho was sacked following a series of disputes between the two.

Mourinho was re-hired by Chelsea in 2013 and broken bridges appeared to have been mended. Mourinho led them to domestic glory in 2014. What followed was a woeful title defence, with Chelsea languishing in the bottom half of the table for the majority of the season. He was shown the door once again and this time, perhaps, he would have seen it coming.

Jose Mourinho on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich: "He was never my friend. We always had the relationship of owner-manager; a very respectful relationship. We were never friends. We were never close to each other. So, no, he is just a person that I keep very respected."

“If you ask me, if my team scores a goal am I going to celebrate like a crazy kid?’ No. I think I can control the emotion of that situation. Am I going to have a negative reaction if the crowd has something negative with me? No. I think, again, I have the maturity enough to control the emotion. I have lots of respect.”

Mourinho, when it comes to assembling his squad is acknowledged for his attention to detail and maintaining a balance in his team. He also demands all transfers take place as early as possible, in time for pre-season, so that he can have maximum time to get his squad synced with his own ideas ahead of the new season.

After the 2016-17 season in which United won the Community Shield, the EFL Cup and became champions of the Europa league, Mourinho revealed that he has a four-man shortlist of transfer targets. One of Mourinho's exceptional achievement is winning the league title in his second season at every stint of his managerial career.

Hence it is easy to deduce how desperate he was to get his transfers done and dusted before United flew off for preseason. But when July came, United had only signed centre back Victor Lindelof from Benfica, with reportedly close deals for Antoine Griezmann and Fabinho stalling.

When the Premier League returned in all its glory in August 2017, United had signed two more players with Everton's hitman Romelu Lukaku joining the club along with Nemanja Matic from Chelsea.

When quizzed if he had any frustrations, Mourinho said: "I told Mr Woodward that obviously, my plans were four, but I also told him 'be cool, no pressure from me, do what you think is best for the club'. We will be together again for another transfer window in January and another next summer, so there is no pressure from me at all. I'm happy with the squad we have and I'm ready to go without the fourth player. If we are out of the market, I'm fine. I'm ready."

This certainly does not sound like the Mourinho of old, who would have tried to suppress his frustration by focussing elsewhere or by remarking "I have no comments" as he has often done in the past. Are the Devils' angels working magic on the special one? Or is he completely confident in the returning Zlatan Ibrahimovic, come January?

1. True Blue to Blood Red

Mourinho pointing to the United crest after beating Chelsea

It had been 12 years since the top tier of English football was revamped and named 'The Premier League' and Manchester United had won the league a breathtaking 8 times within that period. Sir Alex's mission was clear- to knock Liverpool off their perch. And United did that and then some.

Until Mourinho's Chelsea arrived on the scene. Sir Alex had lost the 2004 title to the Arsenal Invincibles and now Chelsea, backed by the Russian billionaire, Abramovich, had won back to back titles.

Mourinho's tactical expertise, game management and ability to react quickly and effectively as the game progresses makes him one of football's greatest ever tacticians. The self-proclaimed "Special One" took the premier league by storm and Chelsea fans worshipped him.

Until a fine evening in September 2007 when he was sacked by the club following a series of disputes with the board. He went to Italy, won a historic treble with Inter Milan, went to Spain, won the league with Real Madrid and returned to Stamford Bridge in 2013. The Portuguese went on to win the league in 2014-15 and was then shown the door again halfway through the 2015-16 season; when he took Chelsea to new lows. A section of Chelsea fans even turned against Mourinho, arguably the best manager in their history.

Manchester United came knocking and Mourinho pounced on the chance to become the main man at Old Trafford. The swagger, size and drive for success of this great club matched that of Mourinho and he was relishing the pressure. The pressure that other managers feared facing and the pressure that forced the mega million superstars to underperform.

And when Mourinho, who was at the bottom-most point of his career accepted the invitation with open arms, United fans knew that he was their special one now. Furthermore, when United beat Chelsea 2-0 at Old Trafford, after the final whistle he repeatedly pointed to the United badge on his tracksuit.

And Mourinho says he did that to show his loyalty is now completely with United. He said, “I come with the tracksuit, which normally I don’t do. I did it because it was Chelsea and I wanted to make clear I’m not Chelsea anymore. Chelsea is in my history, I’m in Chelsea’s history, I have huge respect for the fans, they gave me so much, but I’m not Chelsea anymore. So I came with the tracksuit because it has the badge and I could show everyone my feelings.Yes, it was calculated beforehand. I did it because I wanted to finish with my connection to Chelsea. It was just about the history."

There is no question now that Mourinho's loyalties now lie with the Red Devils. Under him, United have finally found the man who can lead them back to domestic glory in the coming years and perhaps trigger another era of supremity, although the Premier League is becoming tougher with each passing season.

Mourinho and Manchester could turn out to be a match made in heaven and the Portuguese is likely to stamp his mark in United's illustrious history as Manchester United try to win back the title that has eluded them for four years. But one thing is certain: Manchester United is slowly changing Jose Mourinho.