This, dare we say it, is how it used to be.
For a third successive game, Manchester United actually looked like Manchester United.
The unimaginative, stupefyingly dull football which blighted the final months of Jose Mourinho’s tenure has, in just three games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, been replaced by the kind of inventive, buccaneering brand of play once regularly served up by the home side at Old Trafford.
Four minutes was all it took for United to make a breakthrough against Bournemouth: Marcus Rashford’s sharp turn and perfectly executed elastico beating Nathan Aké and then Diego Rico, engineering him enough space to drill a cross to Paul Pogba, who stabbed home from the edge of the six-yard box.
Pogba headed his and United’s second after half an hour, with Rashford prodding home a third shortly before half-time. Though Aké’s header pulled one back for Bournemouth, any faint hopes of an unlikely comeback were extinguished by Romelu Lukaku. On for Rashford, the Belgian slotted home for the fourth and final goal of the game. Even after Eric Bailly was shown a straight red for a clumsy lunge with ten minutes to play, United controlled the final stages, easing to another convincing victory.
Of the many positives, it was undoubtedly Pogba’s contribution that was the most significant. One of many United players that looked lost under Mourinho, Pogba was at the heart of all that was good about this United display. His two goals aside, his movement and passing repeatedly caused Bournemouth problems.
“A top, top performance from a midfielder,” was how Solskjaer put it afterwards. “There’s no showboating. It’s touch, pass move and he plays an efficient game. Paul knows he’s at his best when he plays an efficient game.”
Without doubt, Pogba has thrived in the more offensive approach United have adopted since Solskjaer took charge. He, though, is not alone. Alongside him, Nemanja Matic, an on-field symbol of the painfully bland, uninspiring Mourinho style for much of the season, appeared vastly improved against Bournemouth, willing to get forward at any opportunity. Ander Herrera busily zipped about around him, slotting in to provide cover for Victor Lindelöf when he carried the ball out of defence and popping up on the right to provide the cross from which Pogba scored his second. Rashford was also impressive, both on the ball and with his relentless pressing when Bournemouth were in possession.
For all the positives, it’s fair to say that this was far from flawless. United’s ongoing defensive frailties were laid bare by Aké’s consolation goal. The home side were dominant in the first half, yet Bournemouth still managed to eke out a couple of other presentable chances. Solskjaer, however, unlike his predecessor, seems happy to counter this by encouraging his team to try and score more goals, not just by bringing on Marouane Fellaini.
This, tough, was not a day to talk about United’s defensive inadequacies. There’s been plenty of talk about the unshackling of Pogba since United’s win at Cardiff, and this display was as good a sign as any that finally, two and-a-half years after returning to Old Trafford, the Frenchman is delivering what he’s truly capable of. In taking the shackles off Pogba, Solskjaer may just have helped take the shackles off United.
