It looked like a switch had been flicked at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday evening: Manchester United, free from Jose Mourinho’s management, were suddenly playing like Manchester United again.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s temporary spell in charge of the Red Devils got off to the perfect start.
United secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over their Welsh opponents; the first time they’ve scored five goals in a Premier League match since Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game in charge back in May 2013.
Goals from Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera and Anthony Martial put United 3-1 up at half-time.
Jesse Lingard then added gloss to the scoreline by helping himself to a second-half brace.
Mourinho didn’t watch the match live – he was spotted back in Portugal watching his hometown club Vitória de Setúbal lose 2-0 to Santa Clara – but he must have been bewildered to see the full-time scoreline from Cardiff.
The Portuguese tactician left United’s board with little choice but to sack him after a string of poor performances.
It was also clear that he’d fallen out with many players inside the dressing room.
Wayne Rooney, who brought an end to his 13-year career with United following his first season working with Mourinho, provided revealing details about the 55-year-old’s man-management skills (or, rather, lack of) on BT Sport.
United’s all-time leading goalscorer was asked by BT Sport host whether Mourinho did enough to keep players onside, to which he replied: “In my opinion, obviously being there for a year with him, he didn’t.
“I think that was the one surprise I had, that the communication with the players wasn’t as much as it could have been.
“When you like a player out of a game, it gives them freedom of the mind when the manager says ‘I’m leaving you out for this reason or for that reason’ – but the players didn’t get that and the most difficult thing for a player is trying to work out why you’re not playing.”