Ultimate Guide to Manchester United's 2016/17 Season
The Community Shield win was a decent warm-up, but the start of Manchester United's real competitive season is finally about to arrive. Indeed, United's Sunday lunchtime kick-off at Bournemouth is so close you can almost taste it.
Breathing in the salt air of an away trip to the south coast will make for a suitably summer start to a campaign that promises an enormous amount of excitement. The dark winter evenings in the Europa League seem a long way off for now.
It is hard to remember a more eagerly anticipated campaign. Certainly, the tedium of the last couple of seasons should quickly be washed away as Jose Mourinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba work their magic. Throw Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial into the mix, and something really special could unfold.
So what does the season have in store? What are the big questions awaiting an answer? Let's take a look at some of what is to come as the Red Devils get back into action. It's time for the Ultimate Guide.
Mourinho!
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Manchester United fans are used to their manager being the club's dominant figure. After all, Sir Alex Ferguson demanded and received a profound level of control during his time in charge.
Under Louis van Gaal and David Moyes, the manager often became the focus for the wrong reasons—frustration grew quickly in both cases.
This time around, United fans should probably strap in for the Jose Mourinho roller-coaster ride. There are other big characters around—more on whom later—but Mourinho will be the main man.
There are interesting serious footballing issues around the manager's season to consider—the tactics and his use of young players, for example—but one of the dominant themes of the season will no doubt be Mourinho himself.
He remains absolutely box office, as evidence by the number of headlines he has already attracted. So far he has made a largely positive impression, particularly in the transfer market, but over the campaign, there will be plenty of controversy.
He will need to make sure he moderates some of his more extreme tendencies if he wants to stay in United fans' good books. Either way, The Jose Show will take centre stage at Old Trafford.
Pogba!
2 of 10Talking of box office...
Paul Pogba's signing was announced with reveal trailers and a rap video. But the off-pitch stuff, while fun, will not be the real draw. The real draw will be the games Pogba grabs by the scruff of the neck. The real draw will be seeing the 23-year old continue to develop into the player it looks like he could become.
He is already a superb midfielder, seeing him in action for United will be a genuine thrill. And if he can iron out the last few weaknesses in his game, he could be on course to become one of the all-time greats.
If Mourinho uses him as one of a two-man pivot in a 4-2-3-1, it is unlikely we will consistently see the best of Pogba, who thrived at Juventus in a three-man midfield.
But even if we do not see the very best of him, what we see is likely to be a massive upgrade on anything that has happened in United's midfield since Paul Scholes' first retirement. Pogba being a red again is very big news indeed.
Zlatan!
3 of 10Zlatan Ibrahimovic's winning goal in the Community Shield was the kind of goal no United striker would have scored last season. A towering back-post header, in which he flattened the non-trivially-sized Wes Morgan, it showed why Ibrahimovic has turned into such a great goalscorer as his career has progressed.
He has almost literally all of the ball-control skills it is possible for a footballer to have. But rather than rely only on those, he also has a hunger to score, to win, to impact games and is, frankly, absolutely massive. All of those factors can be a big help in the right circumstances and should be a big help to United's season.
He is older now, of course, coming to the end of his illustrious career. Perhaps the Premier League will be a step too far for him at this stage of his journey, but he is still clearly in excellent shape so there is plenty of cause for optimism.
Like the Pogba signing, it feels a little difficult to believe it is real, but it is. Zlatan will be leading United's line this season, and if he is anywhere near as effective as he has proven he still can be, it will be a joy to watch.
Will the Kids Be Alright?
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So far, this has all been pretty glowing—and with good reason. On balance, there is more cause for optimism than concern.
But there are still causes for concern. One of these is over Mourinho's record in bringing through young players. Rashford and Martial were the best things about United's outfield last season, and it would be a huge shame if their inevitable fluctuations in form make Mourinho reluctant to trust them.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah is in a similar bracket.
The manager's treatment of the kids will be given forensic attention by both the media and fans. Being in charge at Old Trafford really does come with a duty of care to the young players in the squad, both those from the academy and those drafted in. This remains one of the great questions of the season ahead.
Fortunately, there are enough talented youngsters around that Mourinho should be able to give the correct answer.
Wayne Rooney's Last United Campaign?
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And talking of big questions...
This one will run and run over the coming months, but Rooney's place in the squad and at the club will be under more scrutiny than ever. He has competition on the pitch in terms of his contribution and off the pitch in terms of his superstar status.
The issues have been debated ad nauseam. What is his best position? How often should he play? Does he even still have an important first-team role in Mourinho's best XI? This season will give us another year's worth of data to help find the answers.
If he has another poor campaign, it will probably be the last of his remarkable United career.
The Derbies
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Any guide to United's season ahead simply must contain mention of the Pep Guardiola-Mourinho rivalry.
In his book Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja's Historic Treble, Graham Hunter details the negative impact on the Spanish national team of the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona during the two men's time in charge of those clubs.
He wrote that Iker Casillas was instrumental in building bridges between national-team colleagues but that in doing so lost Mourinho's trust. It is a fascinating story, one that speaks to the epic scale of the rivalry between the two managers.
And now they are in the same city, in charge of two clubs with aspirations to be the country's dominant force. Their two very different footballing philosophies are set on a collision course.
It could get very ugly indeed. It will certainly be fascinating to watch.
Mourinho vs. the World
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Guardiola is not Mourinho's only old enemy in charge of a Premier League club. The battle between he and Arsene Wenger is so long running as to evoke nostalgia. But it has shown no signs of abating so far.
In his opening press conference, Mourinho said: "There are some managers who last won a title 10 years ago, some of them the last time was never. The last time I won a title was one year ago."
Matt Maltby of MailOnline described this as "a thinly veiled dig at Arsene Wenger," which seems a fair assessment given their history.
There are also plenty of new enemies to make. Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte, for example, are both in charge of clubs with whom Mourinho has an emotive relationship.
And this being Mourinho, there is every chance of a new, unexpected rival emerging. Whatever happens, there will be no shortage of copy written on this subject in the months ahead.
The Europa League
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Ah, the Europa League. Football detention for those elite professionals who failed to hit their targets last season.
Europe's second-string competition will likely be nothing more than a chance for fringe players to get some minutes. If somehow United make it through to the very late stages—say, the semi-final—then it might be time to take it seriously, but really, no one will care too much if United make an early exit from Europe to pursue loftier goals.
There will be a few trips for those fans dedicated to following United wherever they play but, other than that, not too much to get excited about here.
Away Supporter Discontent
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In one of the summer's less covered stories, cause for discontent emerged for United's hardcore away support. As Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News wrote in June:
"Season ticket holders who pass away tickets to friends or family members at face value or free of charge risk being banned from attending games for THREE years.
It would mean a supporter who wakes up feeling unwell on the day of a game will have to inform the club they cannot attend rather than finding someone else to take their ticket.
It’s a move that’s been branded "heavy-handed" by United fans who have also accused the club of "killing the away support over night".
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Dawson also covered the club's response. He wrote that United insist "the move is to stop 'abuse' of the system."
The club's position is unlikely to go down well among a travelling support who rely on informal arrangements to get to games. That group is among the country's most vociferous when it comes to providing support for the players, and it will be a huge shame if the club's actions negatively impact on that.
Amidst all the hoopla of the transfer market, it is worth remembering that football has a huge impact on communities, and this particular community are understandably worried about what all this will mean to their attempts to follow United.
The League Title
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This is what it is all about. The season begins now, and there are months of hard work ahead for the players and staff. There are months of anxiety and joy ahead for fans, months of the ups and downs that come with supporting a football club.
But in the end, this season, which has started with such remarkable transfer activity, has to finish with the big trophy. Anything less than that will not be a real success.
From a purely rational point of view then, making a very respectable challenge would be considered a big achievement, given where United finished in 2015/16, but honestly, when is football ever purely rational?
The league title is the big prize this season, and United have the squad and the manager to win it. The planning is almost done. Now it is time to execute that plan.
Roll on Sunday, and roll on the season.
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