Daley Blind and Luke Shaw delighted with Manchester United impact of Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Manchester United defenders Daley Blind and Luke Shaw hailed the start of a new era at the club after winning the Community Shield in Jose Mourinho’s first competitive match in charge.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his debut and scored the winning goal, Henrikh Mkhitaryan came on and, biggest of all, Paul Pogba was announced as being on his way to Old Trafford. It was with a real sense of confidence and optimism that Blind and Shaw spoke afterwards, about the change in atmosphere at the club since Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal.

Blind played at centre-back with new signing Eric Bailly, and promised that this is just the start of what should be a far more successful era at United. “I am always optimistic, and this is exciting,” Blind said. “We have a great squad, we have picked up the first prize, but there is lots more to come. We have to move on.”

United won their last trip to Wembley, the FA Cup final in May, and Blind said that the winning feeling they now have is important. “We worked hard on Sunday, and really wanted to win this trophy,” he said. “This was a very important game for us. It was hard to reach the FA Cup final and win it, so it was an honour to play in this game. We wanted another trophy, and we won it.”

The FA Cup and Community Shield this summer are United’s first two trophies since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson won his last Premier League before David Moyes won the Community Shield. It has been a barren spell since, but Blind said that Mourinho was changing the mentality at the club. “[Mourinho said] that a club the size of Manchester United always has to play for titles,” Blind said. “We are competing for everything, and we want to win what is possible.”

The arrivals of Mourinho, Ibrahimovic and, later this week, Pogba, have added stardust to a United squad that was lacking it. Blind praised Ibrahimovic for his contribution after seeing the Sweden legend win Sunday’s game with a later header. “He is a great guy and works very hard,” Blind said. “He shows that he really wants to win. I think he is a great person.”

Luke Shaw also hailed the contribution of Ibrahimovic. “I was sat on the bench and someone said ‘it has got to be the big man’, and he delivered,” Shaw revealed. “He has so much confidence in his own play and beliefs. It doesn’t surprise me that he was the one who fired us to victory today.”

Shaw, who is continuing his return from a broken leg sustained almost 11 months ago, talked up the new atmosphere at United thanks to new signings and manager. “I don’t want to say too much now, but everything in training has been looking sharp,” Shaw said. “There are lots of happy faces and new faces that are coming into the training ground. There is a real buzz about the place, and we are all raring to go.”

Eric Bailly was another United debutant at centre-back, and Shaw hailed him as his man of the match. “He is really good on the ball, composed, when he is playing out he doesn’t tend to rush and he was strong at the back,” Shaw said.

Bailly himself revealed afterwards how much he was enjoying working with Mourinho, and hoped to improve. “It is a pleasure to learn under him,” Bailly said. “I hope to continue like that, to keep growing and stay at United in the long term. La Liga is also a great championship, but the Premier League is different, more direct, more contact. I hope, little by little, to adapt to this.”