Rivals laughing at United: Owen continues to fluff his lines as champs turn to chumps..

The fixture list gave United a relatively easy looking start to the new Premier League season, but just two games in talk of the champions retaining the trophy for the fourth time in a row is already looking optimistic and that is putting it mildly.

On Sunday United just about managed to see off the challenge of newly promoted Birmingham City thanks to a Wayne Rooney goal, but last night at Turf Moor Burnley sent Ferguson's team crashing to the canvass following a first-half hammer blow by veteran Robbie Blake.

Worryingly for Ferguson, for the second game in succession Michael Owen failed to convert excellent goal-scoring opportunities and the fans will be wondering how much longer the manager will give the former Liverpool and Newcastle striker. There has to be a serious danger that Ferguson will make what could prove to be a costly panic buy given his limited striker options. Owen might well say he'd be more concerned if he wasn't getting into goals-scoring situations, which isn't the case, but nonetheless he doesn't look sharp. Pundits and fans alike will be questioning if the former England striker will ever recapture his cutting-edge, but the early signs do not look good for Owen and United.

To compound United's misery, Michael Carrick saw his first-half penalty saved by the man-of-the-match Brian Jensen. United's failure to score from the penalty-spot only served to highlight that currently the club doesn't appear to have anyone who is confident enough and capable of converting from just 12 yards out - which is an alarming fact following the departure of Ronaldo.

Ferguson's concerns go way beyond the lack of a penalty taker. Rio Ferdinand's injury problems appear to be getting worse and talk of Vidic leaving the club is getting louder by the week. Against Burnley United's makeshift defence was stretched too many times and Owen Coyle's team could easily have scored more goals.

The problems were not confined to the back four, because the midfield was equally as shaky. Michael Carrick was largely anonymous throughout this game, but perhaps Ferguson didn't help him when electing to play Anderson on the left wing and Giggs in central midfield. It's true to say Giggs was one of the champions better performers on what was a truly awful night, but Anderson was like a fish out of water on the left and here again Ferguson's tactics will be come under scrutiny, because ahead of what was always going to be a tricky away game the United manager had decided to completely change his midfield following Sunday's win over Birmingham.

Ferguson will be expecting his team to bounce back when they travel to Wigan on Saturday, but if that doesn't happen and United lose again it will be further of evidence of a team in decline. Following the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez there was always going to be a period of readjustment; the common consensus was that Ferguson needed to sign someone to score goals and the lead the forward line and so not everyone will be that surprised the champions are struggling in front of goal even against modest Premier League opposition.

United lack genuine star quality in too many areas and new recruits like Atonio Valencia have so far failed to convince the fans that he is capable of stepping-up to the mark. On a night of wholesale changes, Park-Ji-Sung was preferred to the Ecuadorian, but time and time again he gave away possession cheaply as United's forward play broke down on the right.

Against Burnley, United had the look of a mid-table Premier League outfit, one that will struggle to score goals and one that could leak them at the other end, while the engine room was at sea following too many changes. To compound matters there are no leaders in this United team.

It would be totally ridiculous to talk of a crisis at this early juncture, but it won't stop the ABUs from having a good laugh at United's expense following last night's defeat. All credit to Burnley, because they created some excellent chances and their victory was well deserved.

It was only last season that Ferguson suggested this was his best ever squad, it was a silly claim at the time, but a just a matter of weeks further on it is one that looks positively barmy now. The harsh truth is United have relied on Ronaldo too much, without him the current squad is struggling against the calibre of Birmingham and Burnley.

You do wonder how much longer Ferguson will persevere with players who continue to under-perform and how much longer the manager can continue to ignore younger players like Macheda and Gibson. Whatever team the manager selects it looks like it's going to be a very bumpy ride if the first two league performances are any sort of indicator but there's no reason to think otherwise on the evidence of what we have seen so far.