Bismillahi..
The 2018-19 Premier League season is just two weeks old, but Manchester United already appear to be on the brink of crisis under Jose Mourinho.
Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Brighton, following the unconvincing 2-1 opening-day victory against Leicester at Old Trafford, exposed the problems facing the club as they attempt to mount a title challenge.
United are in disarray, but who is to blame and how have they got themselves into this mess?
The reality is that cracks are appearing in every corner at Old Trafford and nobody can escape scrutiny.
Jose Mourinho
The buck always stops with the manager, and if Mourinho cannot steer United back on course, he will pay with his job.
But it seems an awfully long time since he was the "special one" -- the charismatic, game-changing coach who moulded teams into winners at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
The qualities that made Mourinho stand out at his first three big jobs -- tactical nous, supreme confidence and the ability to get his players fighting as one, under his leadership -- appear to have deserted him at United.
He now cuts a sour, surly figure, his tactics look obsolete in comparison to Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and a host of other attack-minded coaches, and his heavy-handed man-management has done little to encourage a sense of happiness and unity within the United dressing room.
Mourinho has also gone public with his frustrations about United's recruitment this summer, perhaps overlooking the fact that he has now had five transfer windows as manager to reshape his squad.
He is displaying the signs of tension and displeasure that preceded his exits from Chelsea and Real Madrid, so the future does not look pretty for Mourinho and United right now.
The summer exit of his longtime assistant, Rui Faria, has left Mourinho without his trusted right-hand man and we have yet to see how significant that may be.
The Players
Eight members of the team that finished Sunday's game at Brighton played in the quarterfinals or beyond at the World Cup, so there is no doubt that United possess quality players capable of performing at a high standard.
But right now, they are consistently under-performing in a United shirt, and the lack of fight and determination in the second half at the Amex Stadium was perhaps the most worrying aspect of the defeat.
Substitutes Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford -- both home-grown players -- showed some of that fight and passion, but not enough of their teammates did.
While rivals Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham play like teams and a collective unit, United resemble a group of individuals.
Paul Pogba does not seem to know his role in the team, none of the club's five centre-backs -- Mourinho signed Sunday's pairing of Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly -- look good enough for a team chasing a top-four finish and David De Gea's form in goal has deteriorated in recent months.
There is a lack of character and an absence of leaders in Mourinho's team. Too many of the players are happy to wait for others to take the initiative, which is perhaps an indictment of Mourinho in that he has made his players too frightened to take a risk and make a mistake.
Individually, United have quality, but as a team they are producing less than the sum of their parts.
Tactics
It has become fashionable to dismiss Mourinho as a manager who sends his team out to "park the bus" and frustrate the opposition, but the evidence is difficult to argue against.
Last season's dismal 0-0 draw at Liverpool halted United's momentum early in the campaign, while the 0-0 Champions League stalemate against Sevilla was a night when Mourinho's team displayed little ambition and they paid for it heavily by losing the second leg and being eliminated.
During his first spell at Chelsea, Mourinho had a similar focus on defensive solidity, but that team of Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole would also blow opponents away with its attacking power.
Mourinho has been unable, or unwilling, to repeat that formula at United. His tactical approach, the safety-first mentality, looks outdated in a modern game that sees fortune favour the bold, both in the Premier League and Europe.
United lack flair and fluidity and the new contract handed to Marouane Fellaini this summer suggests there will not be a tactical evolution any time soon under Mourinho at Old Trafford.
Would City, Liverpool, Real Madrid or Barcelona entertain a player like Fellaini in their squad or would they attempt to win a game by beating their opponents with pace, movement or invention?
The answer is clear. United, however, are painfully predictable to watch and that is because the whole world knows how Mourinho's team play and how they can be stopped.
