Manchester United's plight went from bad to worse on Saturday evening, hammered 4-0 at the hands Brentford.
The Bees, promoted to the Premier League just last season, scored all their goals in the first half in a stunning 45 minutes which exposed every single United flaw to its most gaping.
If new manager Erik ten Hag was unaware of the huge task which lies ahead in this root-and-branch rebuild at Old Trafford, he does now.
READ MORE: Leeds United fans all making same point about Daniel James as Jesse Marsch makes transfer admission
Our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News handed out 0 scores like confetti in their half-time ratings at the Brentford Community Stadium, and their full-time ratings didn't get much higher.
On Jadon Sancho, they wrote: "Evidence of how misleading and meaningless pre-season is. He was more anonymous than against Brighton and made way for Anthony Elanga. 1"
The England winger was by no means the only poor performer in west London, with fans lambasting all members of ten Hag's team on social media.
But Sancho took a fair chunk of it, with United supporters questioning whether the former Borussia Dortmund star was any upgrade on Wales winger Daniel James, who was sold to Leeds United last summer to make way for the £73million signing.
James made an immediate impact at Old Trafford when he signed for £15million from Swansea City in the summer of 2019 before going off the boil. Leeds were always longtime admirers of the 24-year-old Welshman, having tried to sign him before United did, and although Red Devils' supporters were happy to see him leave last summer, fans are now questioning the validity of Sancho as an upgrade.
One fan said: "Never forget Manchester United brought in Sancho as an upgrade for Daniel James."
"Can someone explain to me how Sancho is an upgrade from Daniel James???" mused another.
"I will drop all the ETH expectations if hipsters just agree on the fact that Dalot, Eriksen, Sancho and Martinez are downgrades on Wan Bissaka, McTominay, Daniel James and Lindelof. As simple as that," said a third.
"Again Sancho hasn’t displayed anything close to what Martial, Rashford, Januzaj, Memphis or even Daniel James in their first season for us but you lot want to convince me that he’s a world beater lol," wrote another.
"Dan James got dogs abuse yet worked twice as hard as Rashford and Sancho combined. Ole was shafted by the club and the fanbase," added another fan.
"The downgrade from dan james to sancho is incredible," said another. "I was trolling when I said Man Utd downgraded when they sold Dan James and signed Sancho in one window. I'm not so sure now," wrote another supporter.
talkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino slammed Sancho and fellow wideman Marcus Rashford for their displays against the Bees, adding he believes the former has had "an easy ride" since his move to Old Trafford.
"Sancho and Rashford, two young lads, loads of ability," he said. "Sancho has had an easy ride since he's been at Man United. Sancho has been so poor. I only ever see him get to the byline, I don't see him running at full-backs, scaring the life (out of them).
"Rashford is up against (Aaron) Hickey. A 20-year-old lad, who's had his first game last week in a Brentford shirt, he's playing against a young 20-year-old full-back and he hasn't even attempted to go past him."
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