Manchester United Fan View: Jose Mourinho's confrontational leadership is provoking a response

In the eyes of the media, the ends don’t always justify the means when it comes to Jose Mourinho.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s emergence at the end of November and the beginning of December wasn’t seen as a masterstroke of player management, but was instead greeted with an insistence that Mourinho should have been playing him from the start. The same was also said of Mourinho’s hesitance to start Michael Carrick, too.

Even when the latter did become a key compartment of his Manchester United side, some critics turned on Mourinho for his reliance on a 35-year-old at the heart of his midfield. Because of his ferociously combative nature, naysayers have to be doubly won over before they can accept Mourinho has actually done good.

With Manchester United still down in sixth place, and 12 points off league leaders Chelsea, that’s not going to happen any-time soon. But there are growing signs that the United roster have become indoctrinated to the Jose Mourinho way, and that they’re actually responding to the public scoldings that they could easily mope and grump over.

The proof is in the pudding, which in this case came in the form of Anthony Martial’s scrumptious performance against Watford. After weeks of speculation regarding their relationship, which was only exacerbated by Mourinho’s admission that the French winger needed to vastly improve to hold down a regular Manchester United starting berth, Martial tormented Watford on the left, and he ultimately trudged off in the 81^st minute having assisted the first and scored the second. The waiting Mourinho hug was the perfect sign of a job well done.

As soon as Anthony Martial is rotated out of Mourinho’s side we can expect the speculation regarding his happiness at Old Trafford to emerge again, though. As well as Martial, Mkhitaryan, and Carrick, similar rumours have already afflicted Juan Mata following Mourinho’s substitution of his substitute in the Charity Shield, while Chris Smalling has managed to overcome Mourinho’s public bashing of him after the Chelsea shellacking, and Matteo Darmian, Phil Jones, and Marcos Rojo have, because of Mourinho’s management, excelled when given the chance and have somehow resurrected what previously appeared to be dormant Manchester United careers.

The only player that’s yet to respond to Mourinho’s rigours is Luke Shaw, who was conspicuous with his absence from the Manchester United squad on Saturday afternoon. Shaw should ask around for advice and inspiration on how to get back into his manger’s good-books, otherwise the 21-year-old will soon become both collateral damage and the example that proves Mourinho’s rule as he heads out of Old Trafford. Sadly, because of the results Mourinho’s has provoked from the above, the United faithful wouldn’t bat an eyelid, too.