The special one feels the heat

JOSE Mourinho isn't a happy camper these days. A little over two months into the new season, his expensively-assembled Manchester United team hasn't quite hit the high notes as often as he would have liked. A quick look at the English Premier League (EPL) table gives some indication of the amount of work ahead. The Red Devils lie seventh, five points behind their cross-town rivals Manchester City and London club Arsenal.

The 53-year-old Portuguese manager had a pretty decent start to life at Old Trafford, claiming the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium and then kicking off the league campaign with three wins in a row.

Then, the wheels started to fall off. Three straight losses followed, including a calamitous defeat at home to Manchester City and an away loss to Dutch side Feyenoord in the Europa League. A blistering 4-1 victory over reigning champions Leicester City last month only served to mask the team's shortcomings; the next two EPL games, against Stoke City and Liverpool, ended in frustrating stalemates. With a vast array of talent at his disposal, Mourinho is still tinkering with his starting line-up and formation, figuring out how to bring out the best from the likes of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford. Manchester United still looks and feels like a team in transition, and this is bad news for the world's most well-supported club.