What Has Mourinho Changed So Far?

Manchester United beat Bournemouth 3-1 at Old Trafford in their final Premier League fixture last season and they repeated that scoreline on the opening weekend of the new campaign at the Vitality Stadium - but there's been plenty of change both on and off the pitch between those two games.

In the dugout, Jose Mourinho has replaced Louis van Gaal and the Portuguese has made significant changes on the field. New signings have taken up key positions and there was also a change in formation and approach for his first Premier League in charge of United.

In Van Gaal's Old Trafford farewell - a game postponed after a bomb scare - United cruised to victory against Eddie Howe's men, with Wayne Rooney playing a key role in the creation of two of the home side's goals as well as finding the net himself in a man-of-the-match performance.

Van Gaal fielded a 4-1-4-1 formation back in May, with Michael Carrick sitting behind a midfield four of Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Rooney and Anthony Martial, with breakthrough star Marcus Rashford leading the line.

Rashford's place in the starting line-up was taken by United's new superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Sunday, while Mourinho also opted for a midfield pair of Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini (with £89m buy Paul Pogba suspended) behind an attacking trio of Rooney, Martial and Mata.

The new boss also made changes to the defence, with new signing Eric Bailly and Luke Shaw stepping into the back-line in place of the suspended Chris Smalling and youngster Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.

There were always going to be clear differences in United's style for an opening-weekend away game compared to an end-of-season dead rubber at home and the contrast in their approach was marked.

United played far deeper at the weekend compared to May - just three of their players had an average position in the Bournemouth half, compared with eight at the end of last season. This could be indicative of Mourinho's long-held preference for a low-block when defending.

Indeed, the average distance from United's goal at which they won back possession from their opponents shifted 12 metres further back. They also played 52 more passes in their own half and 169 fewer in Bournemouth's.

Other notable differences between Van Gaal's final Premier League United side and Mourinho's first was a significant drop-off in possession (66.3 per cent to 52.6 per cent) and fewer passes (677 to 560), which perhaps hints the current United XI have been instructed to play in a more direct manner. But the significant increase in clearances and tackles made by the visitors on the south coast highlights the improved performance from Bournemouth.

United's three goals came in a different fashion to those they scored against Bournemouth at Old Trafford. In May, United spent long periods camped around the Cherries' box, and eventually unlocked their defence with neat passing moves. On Sunday, Mata capitalised on a poor back-pass, Rooney pounced on a Martial mis-hit shot and Ibrahimovic fired in a long-range drive.

So is this a sign of things to come? It's too early to tell. Henrikh Mkhitaryan came on as a second half sub and Pogba will almost certainly be involved on Friday night - two players who will have a significant influence on United's play - while home advantage and the context of the two matches cannot be overlooked.

But the Mourinho era is underway with a victory - and the hope at Old Trafford is it will prove more successful than his predecessor's.

Credit: Skysports.com