After the league match against Shrewsbury, New Manchester United continued south and arrived in Watford, near London.
In the first round of the League Cup on August 9, New Manchester United had the misfortune of drawing First Division side Watford.
Watford had just secured a home victory in their opening league match. They were in high spirits, well rested, and waiting for the visiting New Manchester United.
Although Mourinho fielded his main players and planned to use defensive counterattacks to beat a strong First Division team away from home, Watford's defence proved more solid than expected. Playing away, New Manchester United had almost no chances.
The match eventually ended 1-0.
Watford successfully advanced to the second round of the League Cup, while New Manchester United's first appearance in the competition ended in disappointment at Vicarage Road.
Carrying the regret of their League Cup elimination, New Manchester United returned to Manchester. However, the team did not have much time to adjust.
On August 12, they travelled to Scunthorpe to face Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park, their opponents having also won in the opening round.
Scunthorpe had been relegated from League One the previous season. As the saying goes, a fallen giant still carries weight. Although many of their key players had left before the season and experienced football experts were not optimistic about their promotion prospects, Scunthorpe were undoubtedly more likely to win than New Manchester United, who had already been described as successful if they merely avoided relegation.
It was also worth noting that Scunthorpe had won their opening league match 4-0, showing strong attacking power.
Therefore, although Mourinho still mainly used a 4-3-3 formation in this match, he asked his players to take a more defensive approach.
As expected, Scunthorpe launched fierce attacks against New Manchester United.
They clearly wanted to take advantage of having home fixtures in the first two rounds, as well as opponents who were not considered strong, to establish themselves in the promotion places as quickly as possible. They wanted to accumulate as many points as they could and fight for a return to League One at the end of the season.
Under these circumstances, New Manchester United's defending became especially important.
The players showed great determination in their challenges. Even Kitson, the striker, actively dropped back into his own penalty area to help defend, let alone the two wingers.
Scunthorpe's attacking power was indeed strong, but they quickly discovered that New Manchester United were not the pushovers they had imagined.
In this match, New Manchester United's attack failed to threaten Scunthorpe, but Scunthorpe also could not break through New Manchester United's goal.
Especially after entering New Manchester United's half, they found that New Manchester United seemed to have players everywhere.
Starting from Kitson up front, New Manchester United had carefully set up three defensive lines. Scunthorpe found it difficult to create direct chances in front of goal, and once they entered the final third, New Manchester United's players fouled decisively.
However, a match Mourinho thought should have ended in a draw was lost because of a penalty awarded shortly before full time.
Terry committed an unnecessary foul in the box, allowing the opposition to take all three points as they wished.
...
One draw and one defeat made Mourinho clearly realize that there were problems with the team's tactics, especially during transitions between attack and defence.
As long as the opponent contained Kitson, the attacking focal point, New Manchester United became almost helpless. This was precisely the tactic Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe had used against them.
However, recognizing the problem did not mean Mourinho had time to solve it.
On August 15, New Manchester United travelled away again, this time heading north to Hartlepool's Victoria Park.
Although the team fought desperately, they ultimately failed to avoid defeat. The 1-0 scoreline reflected how intense the match had been.
After returning to Manchester, New Manchester United hosted York City on August 19.
Recently, New Manchester United seemed cursed.
Whether they had the upper hand or were at a disadvantage, they simply could not secure a win. With one draw and two defeats in the league, they had collected only one point.
That left New Manchester United twenty-second in the table.
Although three teams had one point, New Manchester United were ranked twenty-first because of goal difference and goals scored, only one point above the bottom side.
Under these circumstances, everyone at New Manchester United felt enormous pressure.
From Mourinho down to the players, they were desperate to win a match and reverse the team's current situation.
York City were also very familiar with New Manchester United.
They had clearly studied New Manchester United's previous matches and knew how to suppress their attack. Therefore, in this match, York City focused on defending and played on the counterattack from the very first minute.
Once again, New Manchester United showed how helpless they were when facing stubborn defensive teams, especially opponents determined to sit deep.
New Manchester United simply could not come up with an effective solution.
Mourinho stood on the touchline for the full ninety minutes, enduring ninety minutes of rain, but the players on the pitch still could not bring him a victory.
Another dull 0-0.
After the match, even Scarlett, the Manchester Evening News reporter who had recently changed her view of New Manchester United, criticized them in her column.
She wrote that New Manchester United's attack was disorganized. Once Kitson, their attacking focal point, was contained, their attack completely lost its sharpness. Had Mourinho not put any work into other attacking plans?
Scarlett also believed that New Manchester United committed too few players forward.
They essentially relied on Kitson, Malouda, and Hleb. The second wave of attack did not arrive in time, making New Manchester United's attack look like a one-shot approach. If it worked, fine. If it failed, they simply defended.
Such a team might achieve something in amateur football, but once they entered the professional leagues, they would inevitably be studied and countered by professional coaches.
In four matches, New Manchester United had scored only one goal, the fewest among the twenty-four teams in League Two.
That was even fewer than Barnet, who were currently bottom of the table. Naturally, concerns began to grow that if the team did not change, New Manchester United might fail to avoid relegation this season.
Aside from Scarlett's relatively fair assessment, other local Manchester newspapers, and even some newspapers that covered League Two, were pessimistic about New Manchester United's prospects.
They especially questioned the ability of head coach Mourinho.
One report in The Sun stated, "Look at Birmingham now. Under Steve Bruce's leadership, they have won four straight matches in League One, their best start in recent years. Krzynówek has even scored once and provided two assists in four matches, making him the team's best-performing player."
Then there was Žigić, who had moved to Chelsea for a high fee.
In three league matches, despite making only two substitute appearances, he had already shown his aerial advantage with one goal and one assist, quickly earning the approval of Chelsea supporters.
Allowing Steve Bruce, Krzynówek, and Žigić to leave was considered the most important reason behind New Manchester United's attacking struggles this season.
Steve Bruce, in particular, had built a New Manchester United side known for its attacking power, one that had even pushed Wenger's Arsenal into difficulty at Highbury.
But look at Mourinho's current team.
They had scored only one miserable goal in four matches. This was the worst start in New Manchester United's history, even though the club's history only stretched back two years.
The outside criticism and pessimism brought immense pressure on everyone at New Manchester United.
Some local newspapers, in particular, seized on Mourinho's preseason declaration, "You can all fight for second place," and used it to heavily criticize New Manchester United's performances across the first four league matches.
Mourinho became the scapegoat for the team's winless run.
Fortunately, after the match against York City on August 19, New Manchester United finally reached the end of the first phase of their gruelling early-season schedule.
From August 5 onward, New Manchester United had played five matches in two weeks. For a team still trying to gel, this had undoubtedly been the most difficult period.
Fortunately, the team had made it through and gained a week of rest.
To help the players adjust their condition, Mourinho gave them a day off on August 20 and resumed training on the 21st.
But Mourinho himself did not take a holiday.
Instead, he came to the training base as usual.
...
"Maybe you should take a break too, José!" Ethan said with a smile as he passed Mourinho's office and saw the manager still looking troubled.
Mourinho was not surprised by Ethan's appearance.
Except when he was on a business trip or on holiday, Ethan came to the training base almost every day. His attendance rate might even be higher than that of the old security guard at the main gate.
"In the fifth round of League Two, we travel to Chesterfield. They're currently second in the table, also with four straight wins. Although they've scored fewer goals than Cardiff, who are top, their defence is even better. This will be a difficult match!" Mourinho said in a heavy tone.
When he had been Van Gaal's assistant, he had never worried about whether the team won or lost.
That had been Van Gaal's responsibility.
Mourinho only cared about whether he had done his own work well and whether he could learn anything from it. In his final year there, he had even begun to think about what adjustments he would make if he were in Van Gaal's position.
At that time, he had observed Barcelona with a very calm mindset.
That made him seem as though he did not care much about whether the team won or lost. At the same time, he felt no pressure from the team's defeats, because all of that fell on the head coach and the players.
Back then, Mourinho had been like a rational and calm observer.
But after arriving at New Manchester United, he clearly felt the pressure brought by the team's winless run.
He was criticized by the media, and he began to doubt his own coaching ability. He even wondered whether he was truly suited to being a head coach, or whether he was better suited to being an assistant.
Two draws and two defeats.
Put kindly, it was the price paid during an adjustment period.
Put bluntly, it was awful, typical form for a newly promoted team fighting relegation.
Mourinho had to admit that before the season began, he had underestimated the difficulty of coaching in a professional league and overestimated his own abilities.
These opening matches had thoroughly sobered him up.
This was a professional league, Mr. José Mourinho!
(To be continued.)