Assessing the early contenders for the Barclays Premier League

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Manchester United – Wherever Jose Mourinho chooses to go, success, controversy and trophies tend to follow. The self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ has already won league titles in Portugal, Italy, and Spain in addition to three Premier League triumphs in England during two separate spells with Chelsea. You would imagine that his appointment at Old Trafford, plus over £150 million spent on players during the summer, will result in the usual deluge of trophies and yet, despite winning the Community Shield in August, Manchester United have made an unconvincing start to the season.

United currently sit in seventh place in the Premier League table and despite all of the star names that populate the Old Trafford dressing room they have yet to start firing on all cylinders. David de Gea remains imperious in goal, Marcus Rashford has continued to thrive and Eric Bailly looks capable of flourishing in the physically demanding arena of English football, but Mourinho has an abundance of issues that require solutions. The Portuguese maestro needs to find a way of maximising the talents of Paul Pogba, determine the future of Wayne Rooney, and get Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial firing again. If United are to win the title this season the there is plenty of work still to be done.