Are Manchester United actually good?

As the Premier League adjourns itself, we can probably assume that José Mourinho is feeling pretty good about things. Three wins from three, nine points from nine. Ten goals scored, zero conceded. Two points on Liverpool and Manchester City, three on Chelsea, five on Tottenham and a whopping six on Arsenal. Why, the last time Manchester United won their opening three games of a league season …

… was last season, when they ended up finishing sixth. Huh.

Still, if it's a little early to get heated up over a league table, there are the questions of style and performance to consider. All football teams are imperfect works in progress, but last time around United had two problems above all others. The first is that they consistently failed to win games that they were dominating, against teams that title-winning sides should be beating. The second is that they were often very, very dull.

That second point isn't just a question of aesthetics, and the two problems were linked. United were dull not because they were trying to Tony Pulis their way to victory, but because they were slow and predictable. And slow, predictable teams are, generally speaking, easier to defend against. They don't ask as many questions, the questions aren’t as difficult, and they don't ask them with such insistence.

Zlatan Ibrahimović took more than his fair share of chances last season, and United would have been a mess without him. But he made the team relatively easy to plan for. It's possibly not a coincidence that United's most interesting attacking performance last season came when Mourinho picked Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard up front against Chelsea.

With that in mind, it's amazing what a bit of movement up front can do. With Romelu Lukaku ranging around up front, offering just as much as Ibrahimović with his back to goal but vastly more on the turn, or running into space, United's main striker is now a threat from every part of the pitch (except, apparently, the penalty spot).

And this makes the team far more unpredictable. Add to that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, his personality now rebuilt to Mourinho's liking, Paul Pogba, liberated by Nemanja Matić, and the pace of either Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford out wide, and suddenly United come at the opposition from all angles at speed.

Which has an effect, even before the goals come. That four of United's 10 goals so far this season have come from substitutes suggests that even when the starting XI aren't actively scoring, they're grinding the opposition down; tiring them out, before introducing the fresh legs of Martial or Rashford (or the fresh chest of Marouane Fellaini). Last season, Mourinho's substitutions were often mysterious and frequently ineffective; this season, they're finishing off games.

Admittedly, this hasn't come against the stiffest opposition. West Ham are a wreck of a team, and while Swansea's decision to chase the game at one-nil down was understandable, they got punished for it. The game against Leicester, then, stands as the most rigorous test so far. It was notable that United, faced with a well-organised defence, spent a lot of the first half either working the ball wide and crossing, or shooting from outside the box. Precisely what Leicester wanted them to do, in other words.

That shifted in the second half, then again once Rashford came on for Martial, and the penalty came at the end of a sustained spell of central pressure. And ultimately, this is exactly the kind of game that United would have drawn last season. Either they'd have failed to break Leicester down, or if they'd got there, they'd have cocked it up at the other end: Recall Joe Allen’s equaliser for Stoke last season. Mourinho was right (as well as right on brand) to salute his side for keeping a clean sheet against "very dangerous" Leicester.

If this happy habit sticks, it will make a massive difference. Last season, United drew 11 times against sides that finished below them in the league. Eight of those draws came at home, including games against Burnley, West Ham, Hull City, and Swansea City. They failed to live up to the first part of the Mourinho doctrine: Smash all the small teams. As such, part two — sit on the big ones until they squeak — never really became relevant.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

So where will it all go wrong? After all, United's history tells us to be wary of fast starts. In 1985-86, Ron Atkinson's United won their first 10 league games, scoring 27 goals in the process. They were unbeaten through 15. And they finished fourth.

As for all teams, the obvious worry is injuries. United have a little more squad depth this season, since the first-team squad acquired three new players plus the returning Andreas Pereira, while only Wayne Rooney departed. But there are a few players without obvious replacements. Lukaku in particular would be missed: None of the alternatives up front, whether Rashford, Martial, or the rehabilitated Ibrahimović, is capable of playing in quite the same way.

Then there's the question of defensive personnel. The arrival of Matić gives United a proper holding player for the first time in a while, and Eric Bailly looks to be blossoming into a charmingly effective central presence. But Daley Blind hasn’t looked entirely convincing at left-back, going forward or backward. And while it would be pleasant to see Luke Shaw finally establish himself, it’s far from certain.

In the middle, Victor Lindelöf is being given time to settle in after a shaky preseason, Chris Smalling hasn't looked the part since Mourinho arrived, and Phil Jones has been doing really well. For anybody else this wouldn't be a problem; for Jones, all it means is that an injury is coming. Or, in fact, has already come.

Finally, there's the question of the fixture list. The FA's supercomputer was kind to United this season: They don't face a fellow Big Sixer until October when Liverpool come to Old Trafford. So while this gives them a chance to build up momentum and confidence, it does also push back the proper examination a little. Keeping Jamie Vardy quiet is one thing; suppressing Liverpool's hyperactive barrage quite another.

Still, if the question of United being Actually Good must be postponed until they've played a couple of games against other Actually Good sides, three things are clear. First, they're already much better than last season. Second, they're significantly more fun. And finally, Mourinho seems to be enjoying himself again. A bit. Relatively. He almost smiled the other day! It was…well, it was kind of unsettling.