Debunking Kneejerk Reactions to Manchester United's Premier League Opener

Manchester United's opening Premier League game went just about as well as Jose Mourinho could have hoped. In a memorable 4-0 win, United's attack—unshackled by the presence of Nemanja Matic and spearheaded by the intelligent movement, power and technically excellent finishing of Romelu Lukaku—tore a lacklustre West Ham United to pieces.

Old Trafford was rocking as Lukaku opened his United account and added another for good measure. Anthony Martial came on late in the game and gave Mourinho a selection headache by first scoring a goal, then assisting another. All that after Marcus Rashford had given Pablo Zabaleta a headache of his own, running at the former Manchester City full-back and repeatedly getting the best of him. Rashford hit the post and had other decent chances to open his United tally.

Paul Pogba got in on the action and sent United to the top of the league—albeit at a time of the season when that could not matter less—by scoring a fourth.

In truth, reaction to this game was, for the most part, reasonable. United fans celebrated and joked that their team was now nailed on for the league title. In doing so, they know, of course, that there is a long way to go.

They made fun of fans of other clubs, particularly Chelsea, grateful for Matic's services. Journalist Duncan Castles got in on the action:

Chelsea looked like they missed the Serb as Burnley put three past them on Saturday. The assurance of last season's champions looked seriously diminished. On the other hand, United's attacking play looked positively transformed by Matic's presence.

Of course, it is too soon to say how this deal will work out. Matic was an expensive signing—at least relative to what football transfer prices were like a year ago, if not by 2017 standards. He is 29 years old, so in the long run, there could be an argument that Chelsea have extracted decent value from a depreciating asset.

Perhaps the gloating will prove to have come a little early, particularly if Antonio Conte makes a decent fist of defending the league title his side won last time out.

And gloating at Chelsea's expense for a bad start would have proved kneejerk last season. Conte took a while to hit his stride. David Luiz, so crucial to Chelsea's success, did not arrive until right at the end of the transfer window.

Similarly impactful signings may yet rock up at Stamford Bridge, retrospectively making sense of their willingness to part with Matic. Equally, the Serbian will presumably not always be quite as brilliant as he was against West Ham in United red.

Overall, from United's perspective, though, the signs are positive.

Always good for a kneejerk reaction, of course, is pundit and former United youth-team player Robbie Savage. He said after the game, per the Daily Star, "Manchester United are my tips to win the title. Nobody can accuse United of being boring or dull today. Without getting carried away, it is the first day of the season, West Ham had a few new signings and were confident, but United have totally, totally destroyed them." 

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Now, to be fair to Savage, he tipped United for the title before the West Ham game, per the Mirror, though he acknowledged Manchester City "look formidable on paper." But it is his analysis of West Ham that was a little wide of the mark. Having said he did not want to get carried away, he proceeded to do exactly that.

West Ham may have felt confident ahead of the game, but barring an attack right at the end of the first half, they offered next to nothing at Old Trafford. They appeared utterly demoralised by the second goal, and the game became a procession for Mourinho's men. Zabaleta's struggles were notable, as was the awful job Arthur Masuaku did of picking Lukaku up from the free-kick that led to the Belgian's second goal.

They were, at least in part, architects of their own downfall, as bad as United were good.

Former United manager David Moyes—a sentence that still brings a shudder to the club's fans—was clearly impressed with the Red Devils during punditry on Bein Sport, as he said: "I think people are saying there's a great chance of them being champions and rightly so."

A few days earlier, Moyes had said to ESPN FC of perhaps the club's most important player, Pogba: "I think he's a good player; I think he'll add to Manchester United, but will he make the difference? Is he someone who will score the goal at really important stages in games or make the key pass? I'm not sure about that."

That is, of course, analysis of a specific player rather than analysis of the team as a whole, but suggesting the team's most obvious talisman is not the player who will "make the key pass" or "score the goal" at the most important moments of the season does not sound like a particularly hearty endorsement of the Red Devils' overall chances, when compared to his post-West Ham endorsement of their chances of winning the title.

And finally, we come to Tim Sherwood, who was taken to task on Twitter for suggesting during his punditry on South African television that Lukaku could get 35 goals this season. It is easy to write off this opinion as an overreaction to his brace at Old Trafford, but in truth, there is more substance to the idea than this tweeter has perhaps given credence. Sherwood's reputation perhaps precedes him a little here, influencing the perception of what he actually said.

It is early days, but 35 goals in all competitions is not such a kneejerk idea. He scored 25 goals in the league last season for an Everton team who should, if all goes even close to plan, be a long way behind where United are this time out.

Providers like Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata presented Zlatan Ibrahimovic with numerous chances last season, enough that the Swede managed 28 goals in all competitions for United in spite of missing more big chances in the league than any other player, per the league's website.

Indeed, Ibrahimovic's conversion rate in the league last season was 14.8 per cent to Lukaku's 22.7 per cent, per BBC Sport. If Lukaku can continue at something like the same rate, he will likely score more than he did for Everton in the league, on top of which he will have at least six Champions League games, and, of course, possibly more in that competition and in the domestic cups.

So, in a perhaps surprising turn of events, Sherwood's position probably does not need much debunking. Especially since he hardly declared it as a certain outcome, merely suggesting there was reason to think it could happen. There is a good reason for caution, though. It is early days, and plenty of things can derail a season.

In the end, though, United fans will not care if a few people overreact to the win. It was a thoroughly entertaining start to the season, and if a little too much optimism is coursing through the veins in the aftermath, then so be it.

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Not since Moyes' reign have the Red Devils scored four in the opening game of the season.

Actually, bearing in mind what happened after that, perhaps it is worth tempering that optimism a bit after all...