Manchester United may not have performed particularly well, but the Red Devils came through in the end to beat Southampton 3-2 in the EFL Cup final.
Manchester United captured the EFL Cup thanks to a late headed goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovich. The performance was poor and certainly not reminiscent of the United way of playing. However, it was the Mourinho way.
Whilst United have endeavored to entertain over the years, Mourinho tends to have more of a win-first approach to proceedings. Mourinho has been incredibly successful over his trophy-laden managerial career.
That’s why he is at United now. Not to bring a pretty style of play. Not to wow everybody with entertainment and goals. To win. Now. And that’s what United did in the first final of this English season.
Grit. Determination. Belief. United just kept going. Kept plodding along. Southampton were magnificent, playing way beyond their current 13th position in the Premier League. Despite going two goals behind, the Saints kept their heads up and pulled the game back to 2-2.
Manolo Gabbiadini scored both goals – and actually should have opened the scoring after having a goal wrongly ruled out for offside. Gabbiadini was outstanding over the course of the game. So, too, Southampton.
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But yet it was United who won. Why? It’s the Mourinho way. You can play well and win. You can play average and win. Today, United played poorly and won. Mourinho is about being resilient and winning by any means necessary.
It’s not the free-flowing, all-action, all-out attacking play Manchester United fans are used to. David Moyes and Louis van Gaal found out just how expectant United fans can be of that style of play.
But Mourinho arrived without expectations of producing the prettiest team around. That’s not his style. Mourinho will bring trophies to the club, but it will happen on his terms, and his way. It may only be the EFL Cup, but this win was a perfect example of Mourinho’s methods.
The United boss is versatile and open-minded in his approach. He doesn’t mind playing long ball if it suits. He also doesn’t mind parking the bus if the game calls for it. Mourinho’s way is winning by any means necessary.
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Against Southampton, and on the back of a gruelling fixture list, the occasion called for United to grind a result out. Dig in. To hang around and count on the big players to provide the big moments. That’s what happened. Ibrahimovich came up trumps and United won the EFL Cup.
They didn’t do it the United way, but they sure did do it the Mourinho way.