Manchester United have made worse starts to seasons than this and won titles. But Manchester United have also made a worse start to this season than the table suggests. Early as August is, every week has come to assume seismic proportions for them.
In the space of seven days, they lost both standing and the prospect of Mason Greenwood’s return in the resolution to a damaging episode. They lost to Tottenham and, after what Erik ten Hag termed a “horror start”, threatened to lose to Nottingham Forest. They lost Mason Mount and Luke Shaw; taking Raphael Varane off on Saturday was a precautionary measure, but the Frenchman may yet join them on the injury list.
