In 2 months Jose has already delivered something that LvG couldn’t in 2 years at Manchester United

Some feel that Louis van Gaal was treated unfairly at Manchester United. That all his hard work was about to pay off and that he was misunderstood.

Well certainly the last bit is true. TFF would go as far as to say that pretty much everyone was confused, from players to staff to fans, perhaps to the boss himself during that ill-fated two year tenure.

Van Gaal was a tinker man who was forever meddling and it can’t have helped his players to understand their roles within the team.

TTF remembers one game where 7 of the 10 outfield players were out of their normal positions.

And it seems to us that Jose has delivered a settled team within two months when Louis was still attempting that after two years.

Under the new management players generally know where they will be playing. And that is usually in the position that they are most comfortable and effective in.

The back five already looks remarkably settled and Mourinho may look to this as his first choice defence this season with Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw protecting David de Gea. Timothy Fosu-Mensah may be used at right back at times and Chris Smalling will come in at some stages. But the defence looks settled and the players can only benefit from that.

Likewise up top. Zlatan will play number 9 when fit. Rooney will take up his favourite position in the hole and Anthony Martial will occupy the left flank. When Henrikh Mkhitaryan is fit he will probably play right and Manchester United can also use Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford out there.

The midfield is still waiting for Paul Pogba but he will start every game when fit and be joined by one other.

So in two months Jose has fostered a settled team. You largely know who will play where and the players will surely gain confidence and effectiveness by knowing who is where.

Mourinho is heralded as a genius but he clearly knows the importance of keeping things simple at Manchester United.