The Red Devils saw a troubled campaign hit a new low against West Ham, with a 3-1 away defeat seeing pressure piled onto a beleaguered manager
Another demoralising defeat for Manchester United has left Jose Mourinho facing up to the club’s worst start since Sir Alex Ferguson faced the threat of the sack back in 1989-90.
The Red Devils have offered glimpses of what they are capable of in the current campaign, but have struggled for consistency on the field against a backdrop of uncertainty off it.
A 3-1 reversal away at West Ham on Saturday has seen them hit a new low, with Mourinho’s men offering limp resistance against the Hammers.
More questions were asked of their team selection ahead of that contest, with Alexis Sanchez among those to have been left out of the matchday squad .
Paul Pogba was included from the off, after another week in which his working relationship with Mourinho dominated the headlines , but he was well off the pace and was substituted with 20 minutes remaining.
He was by no means the only one to struggle at the London Stadium, with United seeing a Felipe Anderson opener and an own goal from Victor Lindelof leaving them with a mountain to climb by the interval.
Marcus Rashford pulled a goal back immediately after Pogba had been replaced, but West Ham scored their third goal just three minutes later through Marko Arnautovic to condemn United to a third Premier League defeat this season.
Just 10 points have been taken from a possible 21 across seven outings, with that return leaving them well short of the early pacesetters.
It is the same points return which David Moyes accumulated during his opening seven Premier League games as United manager in the 2013-14 season, but his team at least had a better goal difference than Mourinho’s current side.
So, not since Ferguson was fighting to save his job in the late 80s have the Red Devils stumbled so badly out of the blocks.
Back then they opened the season with a crushing 4-1 win over Arsenal, but things went downhill quickly.
Their opening seven games delivered four defeats, with only seven points collected.
Ferguson was able to save himself with an FA Cup run which delivered a first piece of major silverware and the rest, as they say, is history – with 13 Premier League titles collected from there.
Mourinho may not be given the opportunity to oversee a similar rescue mission, with pressure mounting on the beleaguered Portuguese as his ongoing presence is called into question and talk of a possible move for Zinedine Zidane begins to build.