It all started off perfectly for Jose Mourinho at Manchester United after his side won the Community Shield against Leicester. The Red Devils then kicked off the campaign for real with easy wins against Bournemouth and Southampton. Add to that a classic ‘United’ style victory away at Hull thanks to a last minute goal, and optimism was plentiful heading into the Manchester Derby.

With Sergio Aguero out through suspension, it was arguably United’s game for the taking, but they didn’t turn up until just before half-time and even with Claudio Bravo’s erratic display in goal for City they left themselves too much to do to overturn a deficit. Man City got the bragging rights that day and Pep Guardiola got the better of his arch nemesis once again.

A derby day defeat can hurt but you would have imagined that they would bounce back in the best possible way with wins on both domestic and European fronts. But with defeats to Feyenoord and Watford – marking the first time Mourinho has lost three matches since his time in charge at Porto – every football fan is now debating the happenings at Old Trafford.

I was certainly not alone when I picked Manchester United as my favourites to win the title after the fantastic summer they had. The early arrival of Mourinho set the tone and with the addition of ‘Mr-I-win-the-league-wherever-I-go, or Zlatan Ibrahimovic if you prefer, it looked like something special was going on in the red half of Manchester.

Fantastic players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly and of course Paul Pogba were then added and there must have been shivers down the backs of Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool fans when they saw what they were up to. But Pogba is nowhere near living up to the expectations of his world-record transfer fee player, and United fans will almost be wishing that the club could get a refund!

Not only that, the centre-back area once again seems to be an issue. The Bailly and Daley Blind partnership was never going to be a permanent fix but even with the return of Chris Smalling against Watford it was a torrid afternoon, and it made United fans yearn for the halcyon days of partnerships such as Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister

Obviously, United’s chances of winning the title are not over but they have already given up six points to Man City and this is in a season where you can’t even see Guardiola’s side dropping too many points. Also rivals Chelsea and Liverpool looked more balanced and more importantly better suited to having a tilt at the title.

My biggest concern is whether Wayne Rooney or Mourinho has the more saying in the dressing room and around Carrington. If Rooney is untouchable I can’t see the end of the crisis, but as soon as he’s dropped there should be chances for others to step in and a better team to develop. What really is going on behind the scenes? Is there really a stipulation in his contract that he must play at Old Trafford? I can’t think of any other reason as to why he continues to play when it’s to the detriment of the team’s natural balance.

The thing that Mourinho needs to work out, and work out quickly, is what is his best line-up and not one where has to shoehorn all of his talents in. He almost has a situation where he has three players who must play – Pogba, Ibrahimovic and Rooney – but only two can really be accommodated at any one time. Tough decisions need to be made, but will Mourinho make them or will he continue to try and fit round pegs in square holes? Only time will tell.

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