With Cardiff victory, Manchester’s Reds put on united front after Jose Mourinho exit

LONDON: After thrashing Cardiff City 5-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, Manchester United players put on a unified front when questioned about the sacking of former manager Jose Mourinho.
United captain Ashley Young admitted the mood around Old Trafford had been instantly lifted by caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s “smile,” but denied there were any celebrations in the dressing room at news of Jose Mourinho’s sacking.
Solskjaer is now in temporary charge at Old Trafford until the end of the season after Mourinho was dismissed on Tuesday with United 19 points off the top of the table.
“I don’t think he (Solskjaer) has stopped smiling,” Young said after victory in the Welsh capital.
“He was like that as a player. He always has a smile on his face and I think that can reflect down on to the team, which is a good thing.
“Ole has come in and we were preparing in the right way for a game, even though it’s been a crazy week.”
And Young dismissed any suggestion players were delighted to see the back of Mourinho.
“No celebrations at all. Absolute lies.
“Obviously it was disappointing for the manager to get sacked. In his two-and-a-half years he won trophies. We have to take some responsibility for that as we are on the pitch.
“But we have to move on from that. As professional players we have to get on with the job in hand, and that is what we did here.”
Mourinho clashed with a number of senior figures in the United dressing room over his two-and-a-half seasons in charge.
One of the most high-profile players the Portuguese had a public spat with was World Cup-winner Paul Pogba.
But the Frenchman, who was restored to the starting line-up for the first time in four league games and was instrumental in setting up four of United’s five goals, thanked his former boss for helping him “improve as a person.”
“We won trophies with Jose and I want to thank him for that,” he said.
“He makes me improve, as a person as well, and that’s it. That’s the past, I want to thank him for that.
I’m sure that is the same for all the players and now we are looking forward to the next game,” he added.
Pogba said he and his teammates were now focused on helping United “go back to the top of the league” after they scored five goals in a league game for the first time since the final game of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign in 2013.
“The performance of the team was great and we are happy that the first game of the manager starts like this,” he said. “It’s important now to carry on like that.
“We cannot play like this and win with five goals and then the next game lose.”

With Cardiff victory, Manchester’s Reds put on united front after Jose Mourinho exit