Will Keane and Andreas Pereira were both on the scoresheet as Manchester United opened their Jose Mourinho reign with a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in a pre-season friendly on Saturday. “He worked every day at the training ground to try to be ready for this”.
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“I think it was very important for me to get some minutes and show the manager and show the team that I can help them”.
“It was very good”, the United boss recognised.
A game that was squeezed into the schedule, per Mourinho’s request, in a bid to know his team as much as he can, before they officially begin their 2016/17 campaign – where they finished last season – in Wembley – for the customary Charity Shield fixture against Premier League Champions Leicester City.
‘He’s one of the players who I want to give 65, 70 minutes because more than others he needs to play, needs to feel it and needs to start communicating’.
The former Chelsea manager seemed to build a rapport with his new supporters straight away, as fans chanted his name and he acknowledged them.
After another title-less year for the once-dominant Manchester United, Mourinho was brought on to manage the Red Devils with a three-year deal. “I think in the last couple of weeks we’ve been training really hard and everyone’s looking forward to the game, and of course I am as well”.
“My reaction is that honestly I would prefer the fans to go with the players”.
“I’m very happy, the result is obviously not the most important thing but it is always important”, Mourinho told MUTV.
Nine minutes later United were two up as Ander Herrera’s shot from Ashley Young’s free-kick fell kindly for Pereira, who lashed an unstoppable shot into the top-left corner, before Mourinho’s men saw the game out easily. They are the ones on the pitch and they are the ones that need support.
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“Basically in China I will play with these guys that are training for 10 days and the Rooneys and Rashfords and Smallings, these guys are coming to China without training so I am not going to play them”, he explained.
