The atmosphere on tour this year has been far more relaxed than 12 months ago

For the majority of last summer’s pre-season tour of the United States, many Manchester United staff members lived in fear of José Mourinho.

One remarked recently that he did not feel he could go to a bar near the team hotel in Beverly Hills for a quiet pint on last year’s tour. The fear was that Mourinho would clock him and mark his card. Another staffer noted that when involved in conversation with Mourinho in the morning, the Portuguese manager would lean in and get close to him. He suspected that Mourinho was trying to tell if he could smell any booze on the staff member’s breath and determine whether he had been out the night before.

Twelve months on, Mourinho is gone and the