UK Edition
There are many similarities between the way Jose Mourinho is constructing his Manchester United team and his title-winning sides of the past with one key difference: he really does seem to want to stick around at this club for longer than usual.
To keep his job, he needs to win. To please the fans, he needs to do so in style.
Mourinho won't be introducing a free-flowing, carefree Man Utd into a frantic Premier League any time soon but there are signs that Mourinho, the anti-football, win-at-all-costs coach, might have a grander plan than only delivering the trophies his role demands.
This season, United might actually be fun to watch again.
The United Way 2: Electric Boogaloo
Flying wingers, steel and power in the centre, creativity in midfield and a predator in the penalty box - the Manchester United way has been missed since Fergie's finest. Although it is unlikely we will see a United team play in quite the same style under Mourinho, there are signs he wants to do more than tip the hat to the club's traditions.
The players he has bought have strengthened the first XI. Romelu Lukaku is a goal poacher, the team is full of pace in wide areas (Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw) and strong through the middle, with Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba a formidable duo.
Mourinho likes to counter-attack, Sir Alex Ferguson's best teams liked to counter-attack. And look what's been happening in pre-season...
Combining the Man Utd and Mourinho ways
Mourinho tends to set his defensive line quite deep and to press the opposition at the halfway line, with the thinking being that if you win the ball in this bit of the pitch, you catch the opposition in a transitional phase of play.
If you try and win the ball high up the pitch, like Liverpool or Man City, the opponents are already in a defensive shape and don't leave as much space to be creative in. When an attacking team gets past the halfway line, they have usually adapted into their attacking set up, or are almost there, leaving defenders ever-so-slightly exposed.
Here's an example from pre-season, when United beat Man City in the prestigious International Champions Cup. City pass from the back and Raheem Sterling prepares to receive the ball. Ander Herrera is triggered like a millennial on Twitter and rushes to tackle the issue at hand without thinking about it.
Sterling's first touch lets him down, Herrera steals the ball and it is quickly worked forward to Mkhitaryan.
The counter-attack is on and City are in trouble.
Two wingers sprint down the wings, Mkhitaryan drives through the centre and Lukaku looks for space in behind the last man - at this high pace, City have no chance of organising themselves into anything resembling a settled defensive shape.
Lukaku moves towards the back post, allowing Mkhitaryan the opportunity to flick a pass outside for Rashford, who strides forward and buries the ball in the bottom corner. It's a classic Mourinho hit-and-run job and one entirely reminiscent of the Man Utd teams who used to destroy opponents so regularly.
A new kind of strike partnership
Rashford has become such a talented player that Mourinho has to find a place for him in the team. Pre-season matches suggest that this will be as one of the wide forwards in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.
Rashford is rapid and can dribble - he is perfect for the quick counter-attacks that Man Utd will utilise this season. But he really comes to life when he gets into central attacking positions.
The key to getting Rashford into these areas alongside Lukaku is to push the full-backs high up the pitch, allowing him the opportunity to tuck inside. When Antonio Valencia, who is basically a winger anyway, gets into these advanced bits of the pitch, Rashford, or whoever is on the right flank at the time, can move to a central position. In this way, a 4-2-3-1 becomes a 3-2-5 in attack.
Daley Blind is very useful in this system as his ability to play at centre-back, left-back or midfield means the defence can shift over when United attack down the right, for example, to support the team's shape.
Man Utd have options. If Mourinho plays a 4-3-3 instead, he can deploy Luke Shaw at left-back and gain width from both flanks, pulling a holding midfielder a little deeper to protect the defence - the kind of role we may well see Michael Carrick in this season. Ander Herrera can do it too, so can Matic. Even Maroune Fellaini! Although the Belgian will very probably continue to be deployed as a number 10 destroyer during his time under Mourinho's charge.
The entire team has been built with the defensive stability cautious Mourinho needs in order to execute high-tempo counter-attacks. It is designed to get the most out of the players available, utilising fluid movement and positional rotation among the front four.
We've seen it in pre-season. Here's another example from that Man City friendly. United's front four attack, with Valencia joining in wide right. Rashford has switched wings with Lingard.
Lukaku wants to get into a central attacking position but Lingard and Rashford are already in that space. Lingard knows his job and moves out wide to drag defenders with him and free up said space for both Lukaku to run into and Mkhitaryan to attack.
The dummy run leaves a massive gap in the middle of the defence, Mkhitaryan takes the pass to feet, turns and runs at goal.
Although he actually shoots and misses here, you can see that Lukaku and Rashford are both in central attacking positions waiting for the pass.
None of this is new at all, but what it shows, or at least suggests, is that United are a very dangerous proposition this season. If you sit back and invite them to attack you, they have hugely talented forwards capable of swapping positions and creating chances out of nothing, and if you try to pin them back they know exactly how and when to pick you off.
It's a team with a solid backbone, imagination and power. It has swagger.
Of course, all it takes is a couple of unlucky results and the wheels might fall off but Mourinho has always won the league in his second season.
This Man Utd team might not crush all those in its path, but with Mourinho's track record, the trophy-winning mentality cultivated last season and an impressive pre-season, this certainly looks like a Man Utd team that knows how to win.
And isn't that, really, the United Way?