Where Does the Win over Swansea Leave Jose Mourinho's Manchester United Project?

It is probably fair to say a decent majority of Manchester United fans were left underwhelmed when Jose Mourinho's XI was revealed ahead of the Swansea City game on Sunday.

With no place in the side for Anthony Martial, no place on the bench for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney all in the side, it all looked like it might be a little ponderous.

Instead, aided in no small part by a Swansea team apparently completely lacking in self-belief, United's old guard did the job beautifully. Ibrahimovic was brighter than he has been in weeks, spraying a beautiful pass out to the right flank early in the game, hinting that his range was in.

Mata, Rooney, Ibrahimovic and Pogba managed to combine well, giving each other support without dropping excessively into the space that one another wanted to play in. Rooney was nominally playing on the left and Mata on the right, though both men spent much of the first half in the No. 10 position.

On many occasions, Rooney, Ibrahimovic and Pogba were certainly drawn to the same space. But they made it work.

Pogba's wonder goal from the edge of the area set the fires and provided a true moment of magic. A much-needed return to form kicked in for Ibrahimovic soon after, as he managed a 12-minute brace—both assisted by Rooney, who was also involved in the buildup to Pogba's goal.

In addition to Swansea's turn as more than hospitable hosts, United's forwards were greatly assisted by Carrick's presence. He found a United player with 95.5 per cent of his 88 passes—standard stuff for him. But the numbers do not tell the story of the zip of those passes, the capacity he has to change the pace of the game by changing the pace of the ball.

His presence seemed to liberate Pogba, who turned in what was probably his best performance so far this season. As well as his wonderful goal, his all-around display was even more relevant given his role in the side. He found a United man with 95.9 per cent of his passes—which included a 100 per cent success rate on his long balls.

He made two interceptions and broke Swansea's play up with six fouls. He completed four dribbles and was, in essence, the heartbeat of United's team. The lack of quality in the opposition must be taken into account, but nonetheless, United's star summer signing was magnificent.

After the disaster of Thursday's Europa League defeat to Fenerbahce in Turkey and the frustration of the Burnley draw at Old Trafford, this was a result and a first-half performance that showed real promise.

That Ibrahimovic and Pogba were key to that speaks to just how much their presence has improved United's squad.

But there are still as many questions as answers. Next to no one would have picked the starting XI on display here as anything like Mourinho's best available option. One of the reasons it worked so well was that Swansea were as poor as they were, but work it most certainly did.

The hints that all is not well behind the scenes remain. Before the game, Mourinho told MUTV (h/t Stuart James of the Guardian):

"

Smalling doesn’t feel that he can play 100 per cent with his pain. Luke Shaw told me this morning that he was not in the condition to play, so we had to build a defensive line.

Daley Blind has some problems but he put himself available to be on the bench and to try to help the team, so the people that are here are people that I trust for a difficult match.

"

The only possible reaction to that from Shaw and Smalling's perspectives is "ouch." It is a hardly veiled criticism and a glaring suggestion that Mourinho is not convinced Shaw and Smalling are "in the boat," to quote Jason Burt's Telegraph article about the manager's methods from May. 

After the game, the manager said, per James:

"

In every sport—and I know because I have friends and they play at the highest level in other sports—how many times you play and you are not 100 per cent. I have a friend that is a big tennis player, he tells me he remembers more the times he played with pain than the times he played without any pain. To compete you have to go to the limits. It’s a cultural thing for some and that’s not my culture.

There is a difference between the brave, who want to be there at any cost, and the ones for whom a little pain can make a difference. If I were to speak with the many great football people of this team, they will say many times they played without being 100 per cent. For the team you have to do anything, that is my way of seeing [things].

Of course, it is not just the players, it is the players and the people that surround the players. Yes, it takes time [to change] but with the help of people like Phil Jones, who was playing without having even trained, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney, with these people it will not be an impossible mission but a possible mission.

"

Fitness management is a contentious topic. Roy Keane would certainly count as one of the "many great football people" of United's recent history. In his second autobiography, The Second Half, he expressed regret that he had ignored as many injuries as he had, citing Ruud van Nistelrooy's more self-preservation-focused approach as perhaps preferable to his own gung-ho, team-first attitude.

However, Mourinho's mission is clear. He is looking to build a unit, a collective that is prepared—as the cliched metaphor would have it—to run through walls for him. At the very least, he wants one in which every member is "on the boat."

Some of his players have clearly bought into the plan. Europa League aside, there has been plenty of effort and determination on show. But the exact makeups of Team Mourinho and Team Not Sure About All This are unclear from the outside looking in. Presumably, the membership fluctuates over time.

Talk of "cultural issues," though, runs deeper than just injury management. United's collective mentality, so often proved wanting in the the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, clearly needs work. The collapse at Chelsea was precipitated by conceding early. As was the loss at Fenerbahce. This does not yet seem to be a team that deals well with adversity, a crucial component of sporting champions.

All this brings to mind the underlying cultural change Ferguson himself was keen to impose 30 years ago—for more on that, see here.

Mourinho has nothing as insidious as a major drinking culture to undo, but he does have to get the players believing in themselves. He does have to instil a fighting spirit that has so often been missing since Sir Alex's retirement in 2013. There have been glimpses of that happening, but its fruits will take time to bear.

He still needs to get to know his players and earn the trust of those who will become part of the core unit. It may be that there are some surprises in terms of who ends up in that unit and who does not, but that aspect of the project is up and running, and January and next summer will doubtless see some departures.

The win at Swansea was much-needed and the star turn from the big names much appreciated. But as Mourinho's post-match comments made clear, United are a work in progress. After the international break comes the visit of Arsenal and a significant test for where the team is at.

For now, no one can be totally sure.

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