One of them is Paul Pogba, the other is NOT Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Bournemouth are first up for the Community Shield winners and Jose Mourinho has already got his starting XI in mind.
Expect to see the same 10 players that started the 2-1 win over Leicester City, last Sunday, with the only switch being £89m Pogba for Marouane Fellaini (if Pogba can prove his fitness, that is).
That would mean Michael Carrick starting alongside the French returnee in the centre of midfield. Not bad for a guy that just turned 35 and who was on his way out of Old Trafford before Louis van Gaal’s three-year plan was ended a whole year early.
In an interview with BT Sport, Mourinho identified Carrick as his ‘stable, intelligent’ man to play as one man in front of the defenders. The back-up options for the former England international are Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera.
According to Mourinho’s reasoning, the signing of a dynamic Pogba was imperative for United heading into this season:
“We didn’t have what I used to call the second midfield player. The one that is strong enough, is powerful enough, has defensive intensity but at the same time has creativity, has goals, has arrival into finishing areas. He drives the midfield forward.
“We have passers, we don’t have runners with the ball.”
As for the player that can cover the No.10 role and occasionally drop back to pitch in, Mourinho once again stated the case for Wayne Rooney.
He also mentioned Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata, which may come as a relief to the Spanish midfielder after being subbed off, as a sub, against Leicester.
