Young: It Is A Squad Game

“It is a squad game,” Jose Mourinho has asserted since taking over as Manchester United manager. It has been a consistent thread to his interviews and will help ensure competition for places in his starting XI is as fierce as must be demanded by a club of the Reds’ stature.

The boss has talked about having 22 players which, for some, may be viewed as a throwback to a previous era when the Reserves were precisely as the name suggested. If the right-back was injured, the second-string’s right-back deputised. Rotating of positions was less prevalent in the past and it certainly made a lot of sense, particularly in terms of generating a competitive culture.

As the United manager has also intimated there is, of course, room for versatile players in his selection as they can prove invaluable in plugging gaps but he likes specialists to operate within his dynamic team structure. And, given the evidence provided in Sweden on Saturday, there will be a hope he is spoilt for choice when it comes to announcing his first Premier League line-up against Bournemouth.

“If they were not in my plans, I would not give them one single minute,” Mourinho told MUTV when asked about the players pushing to show their want to be part of his side. “I wouldn’t keep them in my squad,” he continued, before saying: “We are going to play 60 matches and you cannot do that with 11 players.”

The team ethic often proves crucial for any side striving for success and, at the biggest clubs, managing egos must be a difficult task. Yet Mourinho’s message appears to be getting through to his players already.

Speaking in Gothenburg after the 5-2 win over Galatasaray, Matteo Darmian welcomed the competition for places and Ashley Young agreed with the Italian when talking to ManUtd.com. “Everyone wants to give 100 per cent," he said. "We want to do that at the training ground and out on the pitch when you’re selected.

“It’s a squad game - we’re playing quite a few games, as the manager has said, and everyone has got to be ready to take their chance. He has got that winning mentality. He’s a winner – you can tell with the history he's had at every club, where he’s won trophies and won titles. At a club like this, it’s what we want to do.

“I’ve always said we’ve got a great team spirit here and it’s shown on the pitch in pre-season. Everybody’s fitness levels are getting higher and higher, and we’ll look to carry it into the season.”