Laboured Man United get the job done

Man United 2 Benfica 0: Manchester United fans are starting to understand properly now what it means to support a Jose Mourinho team so it should come as no real surprise to them that United beat Benfica with a lucky own goal and a penalty, that they look set to qualify comfortably for the last 16 of the Champions League after four wins from four, or that despite those facts it was all rather uninspiring.

Mourinho has made it very clear since he arrived at Old Trafford that he is going to do it all his way, unfettered by the burden of the glorious football of the Busy Babes or the adrenalin-rush of Alex Ferguson’s wingers, the memory of Fergie time dramas or even necessarily the impact of generations of youth team heroes.

When the Special One ‘shushed’ the Old Trafford crowd who groaned as Romelu Lukaku missed chances against Tottenham last weekend, he underlined who was in charge and how it was going to be; in return United fans can expect a team that does just enough to win, a team which plays tactically against big opponents and a team which wins trophies.