Jose Mourinho has Manchester United believing again – and now his revamped squad is good enough to field TWO teams
Phil Thomas insists Old Trafford has not had such a warm glow since Sir Alex Ferguson's legendary hairdryer was in full effect
NOT since Sir Alex Ferguson had the hairdryer on full blast have Manchester United gone into a season with such a warm glow.
Less than three months after stumbling home in sixth, 24 points adrift of champions Chelsea, there is a genuine sense of hope again.
In recent years, optimism of Premier League glory at Old Trafford has been as rare as a title-winning open-top bus parade on Merseyside.
But a glance at the squad should be enough to convince people.
There may be better first-choice line-ups around — and even that is debatable — but no club boasts as much depth.
Even Fergie was guilty of signing some shockers.
For Peter Schmeichel there was Massimo Taibi; for Eric Cantona, David Bellion; for Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo there were Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson.
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When Jose Mourinho arrived a year ago, the serious rebuilding work still lay ahead.
Eric Bailly looks a defensive monster, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba’s class is obvious and Romelu Lukaku is a force of nature.
And holding midfielder Nemanja Matic showed in 45 minutes against Sampdoria how crucial he will be.
Matic will allow Pogba to strut his stuff as he did so majestically at Juventus.
Mkhitaryan and Lukaku can be unplayable and then there is the energy and dynamism of Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford.
Mourinho’s options are almost limitless. No wonder their title odds are shrinking almost by the day.
UNITED have told Uefa they will appeal Phil Jones’ two-match ban.
The defender, 25, was punished for swearing at a doping control officer after May’s Europa League final win over Ajax.
Jones wanted to be part of a dressing-room photo in tribute to the 22 victims of the Manchester terror attack but was told to go immediately to doping control.
Mourinho said: “Put yourself in his position. It’s not a normal match, it’s a final.”
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