I saw some stats somewhere today that seemed to show this theory about Man U's slow starts is a myth. Will try to remember where I saw it.
Edit: here
http://www.football365.com/mailbox/9009510/Liverpool-s-System-Is-Not-The-Problem...
"Now that's aside, let's look at united's so-called 'slow start' to every campaign and then them eventually putting up an 'extraordinary comeback' to win the league. At this stage with ten games played, here are United's stats from the last ten seasons:
Season pos points
12/13 1 24
11/12 2 23 (didn't win)
10/11 3 20
09/10 2 22 (didn't win)
08/09 3 21
07/08 1 26
06/07 1 25
05/06 6 18 (didn't win)
04/05 5 17 (didn't win)
03/04 3 22 (didn't win)
"So where exactly is the spectacular downfall that people are talking about? To me it looks like United have always been great starters to the campaign (WHEN THEY'VE GONE ON TO WIN) ten games in anyway.
"This campaign is not a slow start. it's a failure of united fans all over the world to accept that their team is simply not good enough to compete. The 'slow start' that United fans talk so often about is when they are in a bad position four or five games in then yes their point may or may not be valid but 10 games in is a whole different story. it's over 25 percent of the season gone."