Jose Mourinho admits he was the Nervous One ahead of first match in charge of Manchester United
Portuguese led his new side to 3-1 victory over Bournemouth at Dean Court as new boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored
JOSE MOURINHO confessed he became the ‘Nervous One’ before winning his first Premier League game in charge of Manchester United.
Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic notched his obligatory debut goal by thumping in a 25-yard cracker in the 3-1 defeat of Bournemouth.
And Mourinho, a double Champions League and three-time Premier League-winning boss, admitted to having butterflies on the eve of his Red Devils entrance in front of the TV cameras.
The Special One even tried to watch some boxing on the TV in his south-coast hotel ahead of the game to ease the stress — but was knocked back by too many fans. The Portuguese said: “To be honest, yes, I was a little bit nervous before the game.
“For somebody with so many years in football to have that feeling is normal.
“I never forget coming to Old Trafford with Real Madrid and asking Sir Alex if he was still nervous and he said, ‘Yes’.
“I understand that it never changes.
“Experience helps with many things and it’s good to have a little feeling.
“In the hotel there was a boxing match on the second floor but I didn’t have the chance to watch it because there were too many people and they were too happy.”
Free transfer Ibrahimovic at least helped his gaffer settle down when he made it 3-0 just after the hour following goals either side of the break by Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney.
The former Paris Saint-Germain man, who has made a habit of scoring on his debut, said: “My first objective is to win and try to do my job and help my team-mates.
“For me, the victory and three points is most important and whoever scores is a bonus.
“This league is not easy because everything was new to me — my team-mates, the environment and the stadium.”
Mourinho stressed that his new signing is getting better with age and that he is already an inspiration to his young players.
He said: “For the team, you have to forget the passport, that he is 34 years old.
“The body and mentality are not those of a 34-year-old.
“He is at the top of his qualities.
“Look, the first thing I can tell you is that his table for breakfast and for meals is surrounded by the young ones, the kids.
“He knows what he can be for them.”
United captain Rooney added: “It is always important to win the first game.
“You always believe that you can win titles but I think we have made a real statement this season — bringing Zlatan in, Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to improve our team.
“We also have a successful manager who has won trophies everywhere he has been.
“So there is excitement not only with ourselves but with fans and we can sense that.”
Adam Smith crashed home a consolation goal for the Cherries, who kick-started their own downfall when Mata put United ahead as he took advantage after a poor back-pass from new skipper Simon Francis.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe said: “The game was on a knife-edge until the goal.
“But the way that it came about is hard to take and after that it was tough.
“Manchester United have quality players and they’ll be a good team this year.
“But I’m not interested in Manchester United, with due respect.”