Monday, 8 August 2016

Zlatan Ibrahimovic wins first trophy in manchester united

Jose Mourinho began his reign as Manchester United manager with a trophy as Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a late header to beat Leicester in the FA Community Shield at Wembley.

Jesse Lingard, who scored the final goal of the Louis van Gaal era with the winner in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, put United ahead before half-time when he ran 40 yards and beat four men to slot home.

League champions Leicester replied when Marouane Fellaini's dreadful back-pass let Jamie Vardy in to round David de Gea and score.

But summer signing Ibrahimovic, 34, typically had the final word with seven minutes to go, rising to meet Antonio Valencia's cross and beat Kasper Schmeichel via the post.

The outspoken Swedish had stated beforehand that the shield would be the first trophy he would be bringing home as a United player, and so it proved for the veteran striker.

Leicester had brought Mourinho's second stint in charge of Chelsea to an end with a 2-1 defeat at King Power Stadium in December on their way to the title but this was a much happier occasion for the Portuguese.

Mourinho has even more reason to be cheerful ahead of the start of the new Premier League season next week as United announced before the game that Paul Pogba is set to have a medical before a potential return to Old Trafford for what would be a world record fee.


It took less than a minute for the United fans to start chanting their new manager's name, but it is going to take a lot longer for Mourinho to make this team his own, even with his recent purchases.

The Portuguese warned this week it would take time to change his players' mentality after two years of former boss Louis van Gaal's regimented safety-first style, and he was right.

For much of the game they did not look very different to how they did under the Dutchman, with their continuing lack of creativity their most obvious failing, something Lingard's fine individual effort could not disguise.

Their summer signings so far could not change that, especially midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who only appeared from the bench in stoppage time. Along with Pogba, he will be expected to create more chances for United's strikers than they got on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic saw little of the ball in the Leicester box until he scored the winner with only his second effort at goal and his partnership with Wayne Rooney is clearly in its early stages.

At the back, Eric Bailly made a solid enough start but is still learning his lines in English football - he was booked for barging over Leicester striker Jamie Vardy and could easily have had a second yellow card for another clumsy challenge.

There was a bizarre moment in injury time when Juan Mata, himself a 63rd-minute substitute, was replaced by Mkhitaryan, to the Spaniard's apparent displeasure.
No Kante, but same old Leicester

N'Golo Kante has left for Chelsea but not much else has changed about champions Leicester, or the tactics that brought them their surprise success last season.

Rather than start with any of his six summer signings, Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri brought in long-serving Andy King to replace Kante in the heart of his midfield, and his side continued to sit back, absorb the opposition's possession and threaten on the break through Vardy's pace.

Like last season, they also threatened from set-pieces, with Shinji Okazaki heading against the bar from an early corner.

It was only at the break, with his side trailing, that Ranieri tried something different, bringing on summer signing Ahmed Musa and Demarai Gray.

Nigeria international Musa, who cost a club record £16m from CSKA Moscow, had already made a splash in pre-season with his performance against Barcelona and he made an instant impact with his part in Leicester's equaliser.

It was Fellaini who played the final ball but Musa had burst forward to put United on the back foot in the first place.

Two more new faces, midfielder Nampalys Mendy and defender Luis Hernandez, came on for the last half hour without making much of a mark but with the Champions League putting extra demands on Ranieri's squad, we are sure to see more of them in the weeks to come.
Man of the match - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates Manchester United's Community Shield win at Wembley.
It has to be Zlatan. He promised to make an impact and did exactly that. United fans who watched their side struggle up front last season will hope there is a lot more of the same to come
What they said

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic: "It feels good. First official game, we play for the trophy and we win. That's what it's all about, winning trophies.

"This is my 31st trophy, collective trophy, and I'm super happy. This is why I came and hopefully I can win much more than this. Our team is something big going on. We're at the beginning, but we begin with a trophy, so it's a good start."

United manager Jose Mourinho: "The first half performance was much better than the second. The team isn't fit enough yet.
Man Utd fitness a concern for Mourinho

"When Leicester increased the pace, they had three quick players and changed the game. It's an important victory but we have lots of work to do.

"I would be not ambitious if I said it was a fantastic performance. It wasn't. It's always important to start with a trophy."

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: "Congratulations to Manchester United, but also to my players as we made a great match. I thought the minimum we deserved was penalties, but when you play against great champions, this can happen.
Foxes deserved penalty shootout - Ranieri

"They knew our counter attacking strength well and did everything to stop us. We're not at 100%, but it's positive."
Community Shield in numbers

    21: The number of times Manchester United have won the Community Shield, a record figure (17 outright wins and four shared titles).
    20 years: Jesse Lingard is the first Manchester United player to score in the FA Cup final and subsequent Community Shield since Eric Cantona in 1996.
    97: No player had more touches than Leicester's Danny Drinkwater.
    3: The FA Cup winners have now won the Community Shield in each of the last three seasons.

Paul Pogba's signing

Manchester United are on the very edge of re-marking Paul Pogba from Juventus in a world record £89m bargain.

Joined will pay 105m euros for Pogba and execution related rewards and different expenses could see that figure rise.

The midfielder will have a therapeutic in the following few days with the arrangement due to be finished in midweek.

The 23-year-old, who left United for £1.5m in 2012, is set to return for a charge that surpasses Gareth Bale's £85m move to Real Madrid in 2013.

The Old Trafford club still need to concur individual terms with the France midfielder, in spite of the fact that that is required to be a convention.

Pogba's up and coming restorative was declared a little more than a hour and a half before Sunday's Community Shield, which United won 2-1 against Leicester.

Supervisor Jose Mourinho said after the diversion at Wembley that United is the "ideal" club and the Premier League is the best stage for Pogba.

"We have everything to give him and we know the reasons why he needs to come to us," included Mourinho.

"He comes since he knows the club, knows the city, a hefty portion of the players and needs to be an imperative part of the task.

"In the event that you need to be the best player on the planet, on the off chance that you go to Barcelona or Real Madrid you are stuck in an unfortunate situation since I don't think the other two major folks [Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo] will let you."

Gotten some information about the extent of Pogba's exchange charge, Mourinho said: "I don't think Real were disturbed when they broke the record with Gareth Bale or Cristiano.

"I don't believe it's motivation to be tragic - it's motivation to be glad.

"Football is insane and the business sector has ended up insane. What you think this season is insane, you understand three years after the fact it's not insane any more.

"What is costly and not costly in football? I don't have the foggiest idea about any more. I simply know he is a major player."

In four seasons in Turin, Pogba, who helped France achieve the Euro 2016 last, won four association titles.

He is Mourinho's fourth marking at United, after Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

It is the first run through in 20 years an English club will have paid a world record charge.

Newcastle United were the last to do as such when they burned through £15m marking England striker Alan Shearer from Blackburn Rovers.

Pogba joined United from French club Le Havre in 2009 as a 16-year-old, yet showed up before his agreement terminated in July 2012.

He has shown up for Juventus, scoring 34 objectives, and helped the club achieve the 2015 Champions League last. The Serie A side had offered him another agreement, while Real Madrid were additionally intrigued by marking him.

Pogba's operator, Mino Raiola, additionally speaks to striker Ibrahimovic, who marked for United on a free exchange from Paris St-Germain, and midfielder Mkhitaryan, who joined from Borussia Dortmund.