“Manchester United are contenders – Three things learnt from Manchester United 4-0 West Ham

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Manchester United ended the first weekend of Premier League action on top of the table after a superb win over Slaven Bilic’s West Ham. The Red Devils got off to a dream start when Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock with a powerful finish past Joe Hart after a brilliant pass from Marcus Rashford split the United defence.

West Ham looked to fight back but Lukaku added another after the break with a glancing header into the far corner of the net. Marko Arnautovic hit the crossbar with a header himself and Rashford hit the woodwork not long after for United too.

In the final moments Anthony Martial found his way through a congested defence to slot past Hart and then Paul Pogba got in on the act with a run and finish from distance. Here are three things that The Boot Room learnt from the game…

Manchester United are contenders for the Premier League title

Every season it seems that a little more is expected from Manchester United. This season, they have once again been touted as potential title contenders. For the first time, they appear to be living up to that tag. This free-flowing, attacking and dominant display showed everything that was missing in 2016/17.

Whereas last season sides like West Ham held United, who were unable to find a way through, Romelu Lukaku blew the Hammers away. He may face accusations of being a flat track bully but that is exactly what United need after they were held to far too many draws by inferior opposition last season.

West Ham failed to invest in their biggest weakness

West Ham have spent big to sign the likes of Javier Hernandez, Marko Arnautovic and others, but they have failed to improve their weakest area, in defence. Pablo Zabaleta has joined and was the pick of the defence, but Angelo Ogbonna and Winston Reid were both below par with Arthur Masuaku even worse.

Such sloppy defensive play means that no matter how many goals the likes of Hernandez and Arnautovic bring, they will always be up against it. Joe Hart will be busy in goal and may be an improvement on Adrian or Darren Randolph, but even he didn’t have the happiest of debuts.

Chelsea should never have let Nemanja Matic go

Matic controlled the midfield and was dominant. The Serbian was exactly what United were missing last season and his discipline not only protected the back four but also opened up play going forwards, finding his forwards with a great range of passing and vision. With Chelsea lacking depth, it really is a shock that they let him go.

Signing the central midfielder could turn out to be one of Jose Mourinho’s best pieces of business in his career. At £40 million he may not have come cheap, but he has already proven to have the potential to be an excellent addition to the Manchester United squad.