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Revisiting history

It is the dawn of a new dominant era! Manchester United, officially, became the most successful English club with 42 trophies, including the most recent EFL Cup, adorning their cabinet. After Jose Mourinho took over the reigns at Old Trafford last summer, he began rebuilding the team by bringing in Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer, broke the record transfer fee (89 million euros) to get Paul Pogba back home and brought in much-needed midfield creativity with Henrikh Mikhtaryan on the block. They all took some time to settle in the setup but they've all made the difference.

Ibrahimovic has been the most prominent and crucial of the three. His mercurial form saw him score 15 goals in 24 Premier League appearances and bag four assists. Zlatan has simply been all that Manchester United fans asked for and considering his free transfer to the Old Trafford, Mourinho struck a gold. The last three seasons have been nothing short of a scarred experience for the United faithful. The most glorious Premier League club was nowhere near its established brilliance. After the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson (fondly called Fergie), one of the most celebrated managers in the world, the Red Devils were hit with a serious blow.

David Moyes came just after Fergie and had huge boots to fill in. As time passed by, the boot size kept growing bigger and Moyes just could not get the job done. He was eventually sacked by the club within mere 10 months as United legend Ryan Giggs took temporary charge. After a successful stint at the FIFA World Cup with the Dutch national team, Louis Van Gaal accepted the challenge of bringing the Red Devils back in the game in 2014. He spent an immense amount of money to rope in a variety of players but none of the signings proved capable enough of carrying the Red flag forward. When at the helm, Van Gaal brought star players like Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao but none flourished under him and in fact, they proved to be under whelming.

Van Gaal's time at United is often described as "boring". While the world looks with awe at Barcelona when they play the possession-based game, the same did not ring true for United as the flair was missing and the style of play was just not United. As time ran out for the Dutch, he did bring home the FA Cup but that felt like a sweet ending to a tragic affair. With Mourinho tightening the loose ends at United, he went on to take an extremely controversial decision of sitting out the United great Wayne Rooney time and again. While everyone felt bad for Rooney, the decision couldn't be argued upon.

The most interesting story at United under Mourinho has been that of Juan Mata. Mata came to United from Chelsea when Mourinho was Chelsea's manager.

Hence, when Mourinho made his way to the Old Trafford, rumour mills rang loud about Mata's exit. However, the unwanted Mata at Chelsea became the Portuguese's trump card at United. Mata's creative outlook and his constant tendency to get inward worked well for United upfront. While Mourinho had complained about Mata's lack of defensive effort back in his blue jersey days, he doesn't require the same at United now. Since the transition, the duo has been amicably bringing greatness to the glorious Red Devils.

Mourinho has made many changes in United's midfield since his arrival, trying to get the combinations right. The most recent being 4-2-3-1, which seems to be the way forward. With Mikhtaryan growing well into the No. 10 role and pulling the defenders away by going forward, Pogba gets the advanced spaces in which he flourishes. Zlatan has been performing at his forward position with panache and remains crucial to the success of this young United setup. Supporting the line-up, Martial has been doing a job-well-done on the left wing and with Mata on the right, the stage is set for an amalgamation of skill and creative melancholy.

EFL Cup is only a stepping stone. United fans have never really cared much for the tournament but considering that no manager has won the EFL Cup more than Ferguson, a lot of value seems to be attached with the tournament.

This United squad can build on their confidence from this victory. Though they are definitely not in contention for this season's Premier League courtesy of Mourinho ex-club Chelsea's unmatchable form, the FA Cup and especially the Europa League, looks at an achievable target for Mourinho and Co. At the moment, United look back on track and need to hold on to their man Ibrahimovic — the reason for their EFL Cup victory — as they usher into a potentially successful Mourinho era.
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