Manchester United lost their third game of the season so far, falling to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of an invigorated West Ham side, to equal their worst-ever start to a Premier League season. United have 10 points from the first seven league games and are already nine points behind Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table. They were listless and toothless at the London Stadium, with Jose Mourinho once again picking square pegs for round holes and expecting it to work. Uniteds tactics and approach were wrong, and this was ruthlessly exploited by West Ham, who look like they are back on track under Manuel Pellegrini.
Passive United allow West Ham to dictate proceedings
The very first indication of how United would approach the game came when the teams were announced. Mourinho had gone for a 3-5-2 system, with Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku as the strikers and a midfield trio of Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic. However, it was in the defence that he sprung a surprise; Scott McTominay was deployed as the right-sided centre-back, much like Ander Herrera was in the defeat to Tottenham earlier in the season. This was supposed to make it easier for United to play out from the back, but it took away a lot from the defensive structure of the side. The 3-5-2 is an inherently cautious formation, with up to eight players at times involved in the defensive phase, and thus Mourinhos use of it in a game against West Ham was slightly puzzling. It seemed as if that negativity had seeped through to the players as well, as United were extremely passive, sitting off West Ham and allowing them a lot of time and space on the ball.
This meant that Matic and Fellaini were often sucked into deeper positions in front of the United defence, leaving the West Ham midfield free to knock the ball around. Indeed, Mark Noble had one of his best games in recent times, as the Hammers captain had the freedom of the London Stadium to play a deep-lying playmaker role. He had the most touches (81) of any Hammers player, and the second-most passes (72) of any player on either side, showing his influence on the game. But this was mostly made possible by Uniteds passivity and reluctance to engage West Ham, which eventually contributed to their downfall.
Defensive errors condemn United
Mourinhos sides used to be defensively solid, well-drilled units, famed for their resilience and ability to grind out wins by just being so darn difficult to score against. That aspect of his management has alarmingly begun to fade; United have already conceded 12 goals from just seven games in the league. Moreover, another telling statistic is the fact that the Red Devils have now conceded three goals on all three occasions that Mourinho has used a back three this season, which makes it clear that the team are not used to that particular system. This has been exacerbated by defensive mistakes, and Saturday was no exception. Both Luke Shaw and Ashley Young were at fault for the opening goal, as shown below
