Boring football, the new Manchester United way?

"I thought the game was very boring," was the comment made by Ajax manager Peter Bosz after his team went down to Manchester United in the final of the Europa League.

Despite coming into this final with a reputation for playing attacking football and scoring bucketloads of goals, Ajax could barely muster up a proper chance, with the likes of Kasper Dolberg, Bertrand Traore and Davy Klaasen unable to show their goalscoring potential.

It comes as absolutely no surprise really.

When it comes to a major final, you know what to expect from a Jose Mourinho team – a physically strong, compact, perfectly defensively-drilled side that will make it as difficult as possible for the opposition to create chances, to score goals.

On another day, Paul Pogba's shot would have deflected away from goal instead of wrong-footing the keeper and nestling into the net and Henrikh Mkhitaryan would not have been on hand to divert Chris Smalling's downward header.

Maybe, the game would have ended goalless in 90 minutes and extra time and Ajax would have won a "boring" final on penalties.

But, that happens very rarely with a Mourinho team – somehow, even without playing the most eye-catching football, his teams find a way to score and win finals.

You know, had that deflection not gone in, had Smalling not won that header, Manchester United would have scored a couple of goals some other way.

Mourinho has won 12 out of 14 finals for a reason, and it is because he knows how to shut the opposition, doesn't matter what kind of football they play, down.

And shutting down an Ajax team, with an average age of just under 23, was never going to be a problem for the Portuguese.

While winning a major trophy might be the be all and end all for some fans, is it for Manchester United supporters, who have come to expect, not just winning football, but attractive winning football?

Yes, Sir Alex Ferguson might have taken the pragmatic route every now and then at Manchester United, but for the most part, his titles were won playing attractive football.

Mourinho's Manchester United have showed some decent forward play this season, but when it has come to playing the big teams and the big games, the old Mourinho "let's just defend, defend, defend and be solid" mantra has come out.

For a Manchester United team treading water, a title, any title is a big deal at the moment, so does it really matter how it is won?

Not too long ago, Mourinho would have scoffed at any team celebrating and going bonkers after winning the Europa League title, which he thought was beneath him. However, after Manchester United's win on Wednesday, Mourinho looked the happiest of the lot.

So, things change.

Who cares if the final was won with pragmatic, as Bosz called it, "boring" football right, as long as it was won?

Mourinho certainly doesn't. His response to Bosz's "boring" comment was this.

"There are lots of poets in football but they don't win many trophies," Mourinho said.

"We played very intelligently, we knew we could win and we did so in a very good way. If you want to press the ball all the time, you don't play short. If you are dominant in the air, you play long. We knew where they were better than us and where we were better than them – and we tried to kill their good qualities."

However, do the Manchester United fans care? Maybe not right now, but will another season of pragmatic football lead to an air of discontent?

After all, Louis Van Gaal saw his reign end owing to his style of sterile, keep possession just for the sake of it football. And Mourinho is certainly not that.

But he isn't a Ferguson either.

However, that might be alright, as long as Manchester United keep winning titles.

It might not have been the Premier League, Champions League or the FA Cup, but winning two major titles – the EFL Cup and the Europa League – is not something to be scoffed at, particularly by this Manchester United team, who have struggled to find success after Ferguson's retirement.

At the end of the day, Mourinho will be judged by how well he does in the Premier League, and to a lesser extent, the Champions League.

Finishing sixth in the first season can be forgiven, considering the two major titles that were won, but next season, especially after all the big money that Manchester United will obviously spend, needs to be about the Premier League, and competing for the title.

Manchester United will play some good football against the smaller teams, and while pragmatism might come to the fore in the big games, as long as Mourinho keeps guiding his team to titles, the "end justifying the means" thingy will probably be the feeling that pervades through, just like it is at the moment, after an impressive Europa League title triumph.

Reaction at the final whistle of the UEL Final