Five reasons why Manchester United will struggle to get into the top four this season… let alone win the Premier League
Sponsored by
THE arrival of Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford this summer immediately sent Manchester United fans into a frenzy.
The Red Devils had won the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup before a ball had even been kicked.
Here at SunSport we've picked out a few key reasons why United will struggle to qualify for the Uefa Champions League, let alone bring the Premier League title back to the red side of Manchester.
Mourinho has a worse record after seven games than his predecessor
LOUIS VAN GAAL had already bagged 16 points at this point last season but Mourinho has only managed to collect 13 from his opening seven games.
Dutchman Van Gaal had somehow picked up five victories from his first seven matches last year.
After splashing out around £150million luring world-class talent to Manchester this summer [Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic], Mourinho will no doubt be disappointed with their lacklustre start to the 2016/17 campaign. Failing to beat a struggling Stoke City side at home last weekend pretty much sums it up.
United have conceded more goals than at this point last season
BY October last year Manchester United had conceded five goals under Van Gaal. Now, as we go into the international break, Mourinho's men have already conceded eight.
To add to Mourinho's defensive woes, they'll be without the services of 22-year-old Eric Bailly for the whole of January.
Bailly, who has arguably been one of the best defenders under the new regime, will leave Manchester for five-weeks to represent his country at the African Cup of Nations.
The Ivorian youngster has began to develop a strong partnership with fellow centre back Chris Smalling in recent weeks so his absence could prove costly.
Can ageing Ibrahimovic really keep up with the pace?
THE club's summer signing Ibrahimovic celebrated his 35th birthday this week. Shortly before his 34th birthday he compared himself to a fine wine.
He said: "I improve with age. I do not feel on the decline, quite the opposite. I still think I am making progress, even though I am getting older."
Despite having scored six times so far in a United shirt this season, questions will be asked as to whether his body can cope with the physical demands of the Premier League and a hectic fixture list.
At an age where most players would be winding down their careers the former PSG target man opted to team up with Mourinho. But, can he keep up with the pace?
Related stories
Tough competition
ARSENAL, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur all look like better all round teams so far this season rather than a collection of individual talents.
Mourinho appears to have struggled to find the right formula in midfield and the issue of if and where to play 30-year-old Wayne Rooney lingers on.
Mourinho dropped Rooney for the club's last two league matches against Leicester and Stoke and there have already been notable improvements as a result.
Pogba has become a regular in United's starting XI but is only just beginning to justify his £100m price tag.
The Frenchman miscued several efforts wide of the goal in the side's 1-1 at the weekend.
Pressure from arch-rivals Manchester City
Meanwhile at the Eithad, former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola has made an immediate impact. Kevin De Bruyne's absence was perhaps one of the reasons why Manchester City fell to their first defeat of the season on Sunday.
City will be hoping the Belgian playmaker makes a quick recovery in order to continue their aggressive attack on the Premier League table.
Guardiola, who has allowed De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan to form attacking combinations with David Silva higher up the pitch, recently claimed that he would rather drop points in the Premier League than in the Champions League.
United are five points behind the Sky Blues in the title race and the pair will meet in the Round 16 of the EFL Cup later this month.
Watch ALL the goals from the Premier League before anyone else for FREE plus all the latest news, fixtures and results and live match commentary all on the go with the new Sun Football App –