Ajax midfielder Daley Blind has spoken positively about his experience of playing under Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho. The Netherlands international spent four seasons with the Old Trafford outfit and out of those, two were spent under the tutelage of the Portuguese tactician with whom he shared a good relationship. Speaking to reporters, he said: “I almost played 150 matches. I won four trophies. I had a very beautiful time. I had many nice moments there. “I am very grateful to the fans. I worked very nice[ly] with Mourinho.”
Ajax have mostly recently reached the playoff stage of the Champions League after a 5-2 aggregate win over Standard Liege but Blind believes the team can learn more from Mourinho in terms of shutting down games, he added: “I learned a lot from him. He is a winner. And he can project that very well on a group. If you look at our first match in Liege where you are 2-0 in front and still give it away, you have to ‘kill’ these kinds of matches. We might have to make steps in this process.”
Meanwhile, Blind’s decision to leave Old Trafford has proved a blessing in disguise for Luke Shaw, who was handed a regular berth during the entirety of pre-season. The England international was largely the second-choice left-back behind Ashley Young last term but he has taken advantage of the latter’s break after the World Cup to cement the starting role, as of now. Shaw bagged the match-defining goal during United’s 2-1 win over Leicester City in the season opener.