It occurred to TFF that, as the season enters the business end, Manchester United don’t really have a stand out performer within the ranks who has been head and shoulders above the rest.
What new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has done is to improve the performance levels in general and his man-management skills have been illustrated with several of the following players. But who is the stand out performer of the season so far?
Marcos Rojo
Way back in July TFF suggested that Rojo could be the sort of player that Jose Mourinho might like. But his future was far from certain at Old Trafford. Fast forward a few months and the Argentine’s partnerhsip with Phil Jones has been one of the surprise packages of the seaosn. Rojo, is physical, athletic and no-nonense. Mourinho has got the best out of him.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
He started slowly but is beginning to look undroppable in the big games.
Paul Pogba
Has grown in stature and confidence but is yet to grab a big game by the scruff of the neck.
Phil Jones
Early season injuries to Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly forced Mourinho’s hand but Jones has enjoyed one of his longest injury free spells since he signed for the club five years ago. He is finally fulfilling his potential at the heart of the Manchester United defence.
Player of the season hitherto?
ZLATAN
Many onlookers baulked at the idea of at 35-year-old Zlatan hitting the ground running in a league which is faster and more physically demanding than working in France with the peerless PSG.
After a tough spell in the autumn, where Ibrahimovic was constantly red of face, the Swede confounded those critics to become one of the top scorers in the division with 19 goals so far in just 29 games. He looks likely to comfortably surpass 30 goals and has to be Manchester United’s player of the season so far.