Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge of Manchester United hasn’t quite gone according to plan thus far.

The Red Devils are sixth in the Premier League after winning just five of their first 11 matches, three of which came in their opening three games.

Defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea have questioned United’s title credentials, and frustrating draws at home to Stoke and Burnley have not helped lighten the mood around Old Trafford.

However, Mourinho’s men did pick up a much-needed 3-1 win at Swansea prior to the international break, and they’ll look to build on that and close the gap on leaders Liverpool when domestic football resumes next weekend.

United have also struggled in the Europa League this season, and could face an early exit from the competition should they fail to win their last two group games.

A lot of talk at the start of the season was about how Mourinho would lead United to the title this time around, but early signs are that it might be too much of an ask.

Thus, here are THREE reasons why United won’t win the league this season…

Mourinho thought things would be better than they are

By stating in his first press conference that Wayne Rooney will not be playing in defensive midfield for United, Mourinho set out his stall quite early, and it looks like he was expecting things to be better at Old Trafford than it appears to be.

He made the decision to banish Bastian Schweinsteiger from the first team early on, but he’s now back in the fold, probably because none of United’s midfield options have done that well.

He publicly criticised Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling for not playing through pain in the defeat to Swansea the other day, and you get the sense that all is not well at Old Trafford at present.

Things seem unsettled, and Mourinho probably expected things to be better than they are, which means it’ll take longer to get things where he wants them to be.

This makes a title challenge this season highly unlikely.

Mourinho doesn’t know his best XI

This is a problem for any manager coming into a new club, yet Mourinho has been there since the start of the summer, and had over five months to work out his best eleven.

And, from what we’ve seen so far, he doesn’t appear to know it.

What formation to play? Where is best to play Paul Pogba? How can Wayne Rooney fit into the team? Who plays in the defensive midfield role? What about at left-back?

These are all questions that do not have a definitive answer to yet, which is likely why United haven’t made the start they were looking for.

Until injuries at the back begin to subside and things get a bit more settled, it’s unlikely United will get near the title this season.

Defensively questionable

Apart from Eric Bailly, who is now out for a couple of months due to injury, Manchester United have looked shaky at the back this season.

Chris Smalling has done well but had a shocker against Chelsea, while Antonio Valencia and Daley Blind have been playing out of position at right-back and left-back respectively, albeit have done alright.

Apart from the draw against Liverpool, it hasn’t looked like a typical Mourinho team, who are difficult to break down and tough to beat.

David De Gea has once again performed solidly between the sticks, but they need to get a central defensive partnership sorted quickly and, with Bailly’s injury, this might not happen until the New Year.

Mourinho clearly doesn’t fancy Luke Shaw, although he is probably the best left-back at the club, so it remains to be seen where this United defence is going this season.

By the time it’s sorted, the title could already be out of reach.