Manchester United: 5 Reasons Why Sir Alex's Team Won't Win the Premier League

Manchester United have started the 2011-12 Premier League season in spectacular style.  

Five matches, five comprehensive wins, a goal difference of plus 17, top of the table. 

Wins over Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.  

Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Nani on fire.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez coming into his own after an injury-induced lay-off.

A fresh crop of youngsters, ready to step into the breach.

Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the best manager of all-time, renewed and re-invigorated, at the helm.  

Hunger for silverware and a winning mentality, forged by years of success across all competitions, still very much there.

A perfect recipe for a repeat, right?

Not in my opinion.

United won the Premier League last season with a highly unspectacular squad.  A squad that was effectively without Rooney and Chicharito till the new year. It is an achievement that I believe ranks among Sir Alex's best ever. I don't know of many other managers, if any, that could have galvanized a squad like that to achieve so much success across three competitions.

But this season is different.  United's squad has undergone significant change.  Some of their title rivals have strengthened too.  The League, overall, continues to improve.  And it is possible that their priorities may just be somewhat different this season.

Additionally, much of the public sentiment thus far has been swayed by United's stunning start to this season.  Is it sustainable?  We shall have to see.

This is not some kind of denouncement of United's prowess—far from it.  They will certainly be in the mix, and strongly so—probably in all four competitions.  I won't be surprised if they end up with a trophy or two. But come May 2012, I don't think they will be parading the Premier League trophy at Old Trafford.  Read on to find out why.

Of the 21 goals Manchester United have scored this term, at least 10 will be candidates for the "Goals of the Season" DVD.  That's an extraordinarily high percentage.  

Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Nani have started the season in red-hot form.  From both set pieces and open play, these three have played as if from another planet.  They've left opposition 'keepers and defenses completely flat-footed.  And produced a catalog of unstoppable finishes that even Peter Schmeichel, in his pomp, would not have kept out.

How long they can keep this run of spectacular finishes going is anybody's guess.  But if the law of averages is anything to go by, they might be running out of their share of screamers some time soon.

According to football analysts Opta Sports, David De Gea has made 28 saves in five games this season. This is the highest by any goal keeper thus far, and already amounts to 35 percent of the total saves Edwin van der Saar made last season. 

Firstly, that's a positive for David De Gea.  Having faced 32 shots on target, he has only conceded four goals.  That's a fantastic ratio, and I, for one, do not think he is United's weak link.  I believe he will be a top, top 'keeper, and a worthy successor to Schmeichel and van der Saar.  I'd still like to see him play against teams like Blackburn and Wolves, but my guess is that he is the real deal.

But what it also shows is that defensively, United have been suspect this season, and will continue to be so, especially when Nemanja Vidic is missing.  

When they play a 4-4-2 (which looks the likely formation for this season), the defenders are not going to get a lot of help from midfield.  

Nani and Young are attack-minded (although the latter does track back), as is Cleverley (who was first choice in the middle till Kevin Davies did what Kevin Davies does).  That leaves Anderson or Darren Fletcher, both of whom can and will defend.

Further back, Rio Ferdinand seems to have hit a road block in terms of injury, form and the manager's faith.

Vidic and Evra are both top quality, and it remains to be seen how good both Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are, when faced with the rigors of a full season at a top club.  

Based on recent evidence, all of United's young defenders show good promise.  However, the fact that they have allowed as many as 32 shots on target in five league games, three of which were against teams in the bottom four (and it pains me to type that), shows that there is vulnerability.  

This is presently being camouflaged by De Gea's excellent shot-stopping, and the catalog of spectacular goals flying in at the other end.  But for how long?

Shortly after last season's Champions League final at Wembley, which Manchester United lost 1-3, Sir Alex Ferguson graciously admitted that Barcelona outplayed his team, and stated that his aim was to overhaul "the best team in Europe."  

There is no doubt that Sir Alex will put his all into achieving that aim, and his team's flowing, expansive start to this season is the first sign of evidence.  

While United have a fairly straightforward Champions League group, things will get much more competitive come the new year.  And when push comes to shove in early 2012, I believe that the United manager will prioritize European glory over domestic silverware.

The draw for the knock-out stage will be crucial, and the red devils may not have lady luck on their side as they did when they drew Schalke and Marseille last year.

I don't like Manchester City.

I don't believe in their way of building a team, however effective it may be, and I can't wait for financial fair play to kick in.

But I can't hide from the fact that theirs is the team to beat this season.  

With the signings of Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy plus the added potential of Stefan Savic and Owen Hargreaves, City have taken a massive upward step.

There is now genuine world class depth in every position. Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli, Nigel de Jong, James Milner, Adam Johnson, a fit Hargreaves, Pablo Zabaleta and Kolo Toure could grace any starting 11 in Europe.  They are all City substitutes.

United may have a two-point lead at the top, and they have had the more difficult draw on paper.  They have played Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea, yes, but all three fixtures were at home, and Spurs and Arsenal were at their lowest respective nadirs.  The Chelsea scoreline could have been very different had Fernando Torres and De Gea swapped performance standards for that afternoon.

City have faced no top opposition other than Spurs, away, who they thrashed 5-1. But they look strong, confident and very difficult to beat.  And once the new signings really settle in, they will be a force to be reckoned with.  

Their defense has made a few errors thus far, yet Joe Hart has had to make only 15 saves all season.  The depth of their squad is frightening, and I shudder to imagine their quality when Tevez is back to his best and playing regularly.

I will be thrilled if the sheik ends the season empty handed, but I fear that isn't going to be the case.

Edwin van der Saar, Gary Neville, John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Paul Scholes: that's not just a list of United's great and good. It's also a list of the players who left the club during or after last season.  

Scholes and Neville will go down as all-time United legends, van der Saar will come close to achieving that status and Brown and O'Shea will forever be admired for their years of yeoman service.

But aside from this history lesson, United will really miss their experience.  There will be times, both domestically and in Europe, when the team will need some old shoulders to carry them through a sticky situation. And I'm not sure who will put their hand up then.  

Ferdinand, as I mentioned earlier, is really struggling for fitness, and Giggs will play less as he gets older.  Vidic and Evra, therefore, become vitally important, and Sir Alex will be hoping they can remain injury-free for the better part of the season. 

Sir Alex has dismantled and rebuilt this team a few times in his 24 years at Old Trafford.  Has this makeover been a bit too extreme?