West Ham United 3-1 Manchester United: 3 Takeaways

Manchester United slumped to yet another defeat this season as they lost 3-1 to West Ham United at the London Stadium. Marko Arnautovic scored his customary goal against United while Felipe Anderson scored a back-heel while Lindelof scored an unfortunate own goal.

For United, Rashford scored after coming off the bench but that was to be their only high point of the day as star man, Paul Pogba, was hauled off 10 minutes before the close of play after the Frenchman looked mighty ineffective in the middle of the park.

The apparent rift between Mourinho and Pogba seems to be the least of their problems right now as unless they bring about a magical change in mentality and tactics, the Red Devils look every bit a defeated team as they find themselves in the eighth position after seven games this season.

Here, we take a look at some talking points from the game:

#3 Lukaku cannot be the focal point of attack

Lukaku struggled badly against the Hammers

United were ridiculed when they signed the big Belgian last summer as he had a reputation of a poor first touch and tended to go missing in big games. He did shut his critics upto an extent as he scored 27 goals last season and ended his 'big team' hoodoo with an equalizer against Chelsea.

However, even the staunchest United fan will admit that his first touch is indeed poor, beyond terrible at times. Unfortunately, Mourinho operates on a system where he wants his striker to be receiving balls and waiting for his wingers to join in on the attack. Lukaku is just not the man for this task.

It may pay off sometimes but the returns have been far too inconsistent to be considered a credible attacking option. Neither is Lukaku as aware as Ibrahimovic nor does he have the kind of close control. Mourinho should try Alexis as the sole striker as the Chilean seems to be struggling on the wings since last season.

#2 United look disinterested

Pogba had one of his most forgettable games

Manchester United are no strangers to having defensive lapses at times. They earned the moniker of 'comeback kings' as they were renowned for having that belief to bounce back from any kind of defensive debacle.

Glimpses of this were seen last season when the Red Devils made two memorable comebacks against Chelsea and Crystal Palace but the signs of team spirit waning were evident even then.

This season, it has reached new levels as the team have conceded 3 goals to three different sides already in seven games (Brighton, Spurs and West Ham). Not once in any of those games have they looked even remotely threatening going forward. Rashford did score off a corner today but United just did not kick forward from that.

The midweek loss against Derby in the EFL Cup and the bust-up between Pogba and Mourinho only goes on to show that the team is in dire straits mentally and needs a massive change in thinking.

#1 West Ham look re-energized

Plenty to smile about for West Ham

West Ham United went on a mini spending spree in the summer bringing in the likes of manager, Manuel Pellegrini, attackers Lucas Perez, Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko. Carlos Sanchez, Fabianski and Jack Wilshere were some of the other names to join.

With a Premier League-winning manager at the helm and a wealth of decent attacking talent, the London-based club was expected to perform well and in the race for a top-10 spot. However, it seemed far when they started the season with four straight defeats in the league and a sole win coming in the EFL Cup.

All that changed a couple of weeks back though. Against Everton, the Hammers lived up to their nickname as they put 3 past them to get that elusive first win. They then proceeded to draw 0-0 against the high-flying Chelsea, who themselves are looking great under Sarri.

An 8-0 demolition of Macclesfield Town followed in the EFL Cup and the latest 3-1 victory against United means that they are well-placed to achieve the target that everyone expected them to.