Mourinho Very Happy With First United Win

Jose Mourinho was understandably delighted after seeing his Manchester United side run out 2-0 winners over Wigan Athletic in his first game of charge. This is what he had to say to MUTV…

Kicking off with a win
"I am very happy. The result is obviously not the most important thing, but it is always important. I’m happy because there were things we tried in training around some principles of our play defensively and offensively and I could see them. They were not perfect of course because the conditions are not the best with only 10 days of training, accumulation of fatigue and no sharpness, so it takes time. But I could see things that showed the players were starting to think in the way I think about football. That pleased me. Everybody played the match and everyone had a positive performance."

Fantastic fans
"Best of all was something that I never had before - a friendly match which I could call a training session against opposition and yet there were so many supporters who gave permanent support to the team. There was the manifestation of happiness [from them] about a few things they could see in the team which was absolutely fantastic. As I said in my [arrival] press conference, I will try to give them everything and I’m sure they will continue to give amazing support to the team."

Thumbs up for new boys
"[Henrikh] Mkhitaryan is a top-class player and currently at the best stage for a footballer - 27 years old. He is magnificent in the way he thinks about football, he thinks very quickly and it’s so sweet how he touches the ball. He can play in different positions behind the striker. He doesn’t have the sharpness yet but his performance was very positive. With Eric [Bailly], the way the fans showed how much they liked his performance when I substituted him is enough. Of course he is a very young boy coming from a very different environment, but you could see what he is at this moment. I will give him everything to try to make him better and better, like I did with other central defenders I’ve had in my hands. He has showed the potential we saw when we decided to buy him."

Youngsters show promise
"You can play 90 minutes or one minute and sometimes one minute is enough. With Axel [Tuanzebe] – 10 minutes is enough! [Laughs] The potential is there, you could see it immediately. You know him better than me of course as you’ve known for a few years and I’ve known him for a couple of weeks, but if anyone sees him for the first time then 10 minutes is enough to see the potential. Andreas [Pereira] has lots of talent. He has incredible vision and an incredible technique. That’s just talking about two players but the reality is the kids, without pressure and in a calm environment and not in the fire but in a cool situation for them, were very good. And it was very good for me to see what they can do."