Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s influence on his team-mates on and off the field will be very crucial.
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Wayne Rooney then struck with a well placed header in the 59th minute, before a low drilled Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot in the 64th minute put the visitors in total control.
“For the team, you have to forget the passport, that he is 34 years old”, he said.
Ibrahimovic was unusually modest in his post-match interview, telling Sky Sports: “I try to do my job and help my team”.
Mourinho has been tasked with steering United to their first title since the 2012-13 season.
Juan Mata, who some observers thought Mourinho would sell for a second time after letting him leave Chelsea, put United ahead in the first half before Rooney and Ibrahimovic effectively made the game safe.
Ibrahimovic, who also scored United’s victor in the Community Shield against Leicester, did not always look comfortable against the Cherries but the 34-year-old former Sweden striker is renowned for producing individual moments of magic and he delivered again.
Manchester United’s Juan Mata, second from left, scores during the English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Manchester United at Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016.
“I started bad with Inter Milan and Porto, with draws at home, and yet we won everything, so you never know”, he said.
The signs were not so encouraging for Arsenal, which already looks to be struggling to meet fans’ expectations after finishing as runner-up to Leicester last season. It’s three points against a very hard opponent and I don’t think there’s any doubt we deserved to win. We took those chances and got the win which was good for us.
But he said: “It was an important goal, a clever goal, a goal by somebody with a natural instinct to play football”. The body, the mentality is not that of a 34-year-old guy.
“We could feel this today with the few thousand [supporters] and I can imagine this on Friday at Old Trafford, I think they can play their game”.
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“Of course we are bitterly disappointed, ” said the Frenchman, who will mark his 20th year in charge next month.
