Manchester United have found the formula to get the best out of Victor Lindelof

A year on from crow barring Wayne Rooney into his side at Vicarage Road, Jose Mourinho has finally got a system that works. Two of them in fact.
The 54-year-old has dabbled with a range of formations since taking charge at United, using his favoured 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 systems as well as flirting with 4-4-2 and even six at the back.
The Portuguese's use of three at the back in pre-season seemed a very deliberate tactic, a Plan B to fall back on to give his side that extra security blanket, but it has also formed the basis of some of United's best attacking performances in Moscow and Watford.
Whether it is a 3-4-3, a 3-4-2-1 or a 3-5-2, Anthony Martial has licence to float, Ashley Young can set up camp in a more advanced position and Jesse Lingard has revelled in a shuttler role just off the strikers.
But it has been Victor Lindelof, who made his name in a four-man backline at Benfica, who has perhaps benefited most from playing in a more secure formation of late.

After reminding the world of his talents, keeping Ciro Immobile and Manolo Gabbadiani at arm's length in Sweden's shock World Cup play-off win, Lindelof has looked reborn as a right-sided centre back in a three-man backline.
Not even a predictable setback, a slip that could have happened to anyone, deterred him against Newcastle and he is benefiting from a manager who truly believes in him.

Mourinho spent the best part of a year keeping tabs on Lindelof and had enough contacts in Portugal to know the 23-year-old was the real deal despite a lack of competition for his signature.

A more straightforward decision would have been to bring a seemingly proven Premier League defender like Michael Keane back, but Mourinho stood by his long-term target in a marked departure from his usual tendency to sign uncompromising stoppers.
Lindelof, he felt, would give United a new dimension from the back when he was up and running and set the tone for United’s transitions and their ability to win the ball back and break at pace.

That skill set made Lindelof such an exciting prospect and many United fans expected him to immediately slot in alongside Eric Bailly in pre-season.
Bailly, after all, set the benchmark for a young centre-back coming to England for the first time and Lindelof, a three-time title winner, did not have the language barrier to contend with.
But, having been thrown in with a variety of defensive partners, it has taken Lindelof time to find his feet when Phil Jones, coincidentally, has been a colossus at the back.

Even when things have gotten hairy this season - it was hard not to feel sorry for Lindelof as he burst out of the player's exit of the John Smith's Stadium as the only footballer with both his hoods up - Mourinho has refused to criticise, refused to scapegoat.
The Portuguese has always talked with a calm air about his first signing of the summer, constantly referring to that 'step by step' process which is now paying dividends.