West Ham Preys on Manchester United's Silent Turmoil

Wherever José Mourinho goes, soap operas follow.

That's what happens when a manager believes he's bigger than the team, and by now, it should be clear that everyone knows it except the Special One.

The world's wealthiest club is behaving -- and playing -- like a sewing circle gone toxic, and under the current circumstances, it's beyond repair.

Not that West Ham cares. Dudes hardly broke a sweat in posting a 3-1 laugher over the outta-sorts Red Devils.

From the beginning, it was obvious Manchester United weren't into it.

West Ham took straight to the task of sticking it to the Devils, and in the 5th minute, first blood was drawn. Pablo Zabaleta collected a well-timed pass on the right wing and delivered it to Felipe Anderson inside the box.

The finish was butter:

United showed no signs of solving West Ham's defense, much less signs of even trying. It was really up to the home side to entertain paying customers at London Stadium.

Dutifully, then, a couple of minutes before intermission, Andriy Yarmolenko’s effort ended up deflecting off defender Victor Lindelöf and caroming straight into the top right corner. David de Gea could do nothing but take in the view:

Whatever wisdom and/or motivation was imparted in United's dressing room clearly fell on deaf or disinterested ears.

Mourinho subbed out Lindelöf for Marcus Rashford in the 57th minute, which paid dividends in the 71st. That's when the 20-year-old was in position to fire away after a corner by Luke Shaw.

Lukas Fabianski tried for the save, but to no avail:

 

Unfortunately, for United fans, the happy moment didn’t last.

Three minutes later, Marko Arnautović found himself and the ball all alone against de Gea. The Austrian literally had no choice as to what to do next. Not that he wanted one.

West Ham is gradually righting their ship after a horrid start to the season. They've followed a road win at Everton with a scoreless draw against Chelsea, and now this.

Meanwhile, when asked about the internal drama that's clearly roiling United's camp -- among other things, Pogba and the Special One are at each other again -- Mourinho merely responded with an old chestnut that was all about him:

I can assure Manchester United fans that I give 100% every day ...
and I can assure that I am a brave man with lots of experience.

 

No mention of team concerns. As usual, it's all about him.

And it all looks amazingly like his last days at Chelsea. Even then, dude went down true to form.

The loss to West Ham confirms this to be United's worst start to a season in 29 years. The Mourninho sack watch is on.

 

The other sorta sack, actually.

But the two meanings intertwine quite seamlessly in this instance.