Jose Mourinho used to love to park the bus away from home.
The Special One built his reputation at Chelsea on being hard to beat and won trophies with Real Madrid and Inter Milan thanks to his tactical nous.
So maybe it is a mark of how far Mourinho has come at Manchester United that he is no longer satisfied just grinding out hard fought victories.
It is clear from United’s brilliant start to the campaign that Mourinho is far more in tune with the club’s DNA this season than last.
Last season, despite winning two trophies, they drew too many games and it was not always very good entertainment. This time, they are living up to United’s best traditions by playing with flair, thumping teams and when they don’t there is a sense of disappointment.
This was the first time they have won a Premier League game by a single goal this season which is tribute to their gung-ho style and attacking prowess.
Romelu Lukaku has been on fire this season and, when he scored in the 20th-minute, you could have been forgiven for expecting another goal rush.
But the other side of United’s title challenge was highlighted as they put up a defiant rearguard action to keep out Southampton in the face of heavy second half pressure.
United’s midfield core of Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini protected the back four and then Ander Herrera came off the bench to shore things up.
Antonio Valencia is such an under-appreciated full back (outside of Old Trafford, anyway) and Phil Jones and Eric Bailly have formed an outstanding partnership.
The best compliment you can pay Bailly is that he went through his first season almost unnoticed and that is a good thing for any defender because it is mostly mistakes that get highlighted.
United are making it a two-horse title race with Manchester City this season and, while Pep Guardiola’s men are brilliant going forward, the doubts remain about them defensively.
So far this season they have looked the best two teams in the Premier League and it is no surprise they are neck and neck at the top.
But United’s victory was good because they were not at their best and yet showed another side to their game when last season they might have dropped points as they drew more games than any other team in the Premier League.
Now they have a bit of X Factor with Lukaku’s power, pace and goals and the £75m United paid for him looks an absolute steal.
Lukaku has now scored eight goals already this season and done it quicker than other United greats including Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Robin van Persie and even Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
United did brilliantly to get Lukaku early because Neymar’s record breaking £198m move to Paris Saint Germain was a freak but it still raised the bar and valuations did go up. How much for Lukaku now? At least £120m.
Lukaku has scored in seven of his eight games for United and, while he could have got another, his all-round game has also noticeably improved. He has better movement, the timing of his runs and he is brimming with confidence.
Mourinho said: “I knew he would always score goals, I knew he would always score more goals for us than for Everton or West Bromwich Albion. That’s logic. But I was not expecting him to be match after match, putting the ball in the net.”
The United boss also admitted that having to defend and hang on to their lead was something new for them this season but insisted it was a “fantastic” victory for that reason.
Mourinho added: “It’s the same points as when we win 4-0, exactly the same points, but it’s a difficult place to come against a good opponent without anything to lose. They tried in the last 20 or 25 minutes to be really, really offensive to rescue a point and our team.
“We had chances to kill the game, enormous chances with Lukaku and Herrera but we didn’t put ourselves in that situation.
“I’m happy that we were able to cope with something new for us which was to have to play a defensive game in the last 20, 25 minutes. We tried to be positive, we tried to score goals and we try to control matches. It’s not always possible.
“The way we attack is something we have been doing since the start of the season, to defend like that was the first time that had happened to us this season.
“The players knew that, they knew that difficult times would arrive and that difficult time arrived when Southampton played two strikers, they played direct, they pushed the two full backs. They came at us.”
United’s makeshift left back Ashley Young summed it up well. “It wasn’t a United performance but we came down here to get the three points and that’s exactly what we did.”