Man United has none of their opening of three games this season.
Manchester United has been on this road earlier.
After collecting a point of their opening of two Premier League matches, Ruben Amorim and his players must have traveled to Blundell Park to be confronted with Grimsby Town on Wednesday evening to obtain their first victory of the new season against League Twoposition.
But just as Louis van Gaal did in 2014, Amorim became wrong for a League Cup Giant-Killing. The Scoreline on the Lincolnshire coast was not as moving as the 4-0 Drubbing United in their last second round performance in the competition in the hands of MK Dons 11 years ago, but the investigation will require a greater check.
Despite the application of eight changes in his starting line-up of the 1-1 draw of the weekend with Fulham in Craven Cottage, Amorim still called an XI strewn with international caps and talent.
The front three of United cost £ 147.9 million before he takes add-ons into account. For comparison: the average weekly wage of Grimsby is reportedly only £ 1,809.
There can be no excuses for Amorim or his players after Wednesday evening's horror show. The Reds were incredibly lucky to bring the draw to a penalty shootout after they found 2-0 during the break, and Amorim admitted afterwards that it would have been “so unfair” on Grimsby that his team had endured.
During the first 75 minutes, the performance of United was worse than those of Van Gaal's Reds at Stadium MK 11 years ago. The Dutchman confronted with the opposition of League One, the Dutchman called a mix of youth and experience in his starting XI.
The one mentioned in Amorim in Blundell Park, with the exception of Tyler Fredricson in the right-sided center-back, consisted of Stust Guests from the first team.
United had a Champions League finalist between the posts, finalists of the European Championship in Defense and the midfield, and a striker at the top of the field that could eventually cost them to the north of £ 70 million.
There was just no excuse for the weak performance that United has served. They were terrible.
After he was appointed as the successor of Erik ten Hag last November, no legal woman United Supporter thought that Amorim could wave a magic wand and turn things around immediately. He inherited a messy situation and he would need time.
Less than a year after his term of office, it is fair to suggest that he still needs time, but how much time can he be given? His characteristic 3-4-2-1 system does not work and united, both summer holidays, has now won only four of their last 17 games.
As much as it is trendy nowadays for some managers to prioritize style over results, football is all about winning. At the moment, United is nowhere to win in the vicinity of enough football matches.
Just like in 2014, United did not succeed in winning two league games, earning one point and crashed in the second round from the League Cup to one side two or more divisions among them in the pyramid. Funny enough, this weekend's opponent, Burnley, were the next one on the agenda after that notorious MK down defeat.
United traveled to Turf Moor to bring to August 11 years ago and pulled 0-0. Not winning this weekend at Old Trafford will only contribute to the pressure on the shoulders of Amorim.
The transfer window will close a little more than 48 hours after Saturday's collision with the Clarets Ends and United will be planning to make more additions before the 19:00 ends.
The disastrous performance of Andre Onana only strengthened the need of United to a new keeper. Their need for a midfielder is also well documented.
However, as essential as it is to tackle those two weaknesses, United must make serious improvements under Amorim. Proponents are becoming increasingly restless and Amorims refusing to change his ways is not helping business.
Van Gaal led United to a top-four finish in 2014/15, but the competition was then weaker than now. At the moment United doesn't even look like they are able to finish a top half for the second season.