Without a goal and with a -5 goal difference to make up already it is easy to see why some fans are talking about slitting their wrists but there were many positives (and negatives) that can be taken from yesterday's performance.
Positives
1) We didn't lose 4-0. More importantly we never looked like getting thumped 4-0 thanks to a sturdy looking defence. Sylvain Distin didn't do a bad job at left back whilst Younes Kaboul had a solid home debut bar a couple of small mistakes.
Sol Campbell also looked like a defender again after last week and it was good to see him give some advice to Kaboul and keep the communication between the back four going.
2) Armand Traore looked good on his debut. He was quick and not afraid to take players on but he did seem a little naive at times which is understandable given that he is only 18-years-old. I think he will be a sound acquisition for the season.
3) For all of my criticism, Papa Bouba Diop actually played well on the right and if anything was better there than when he moved into the centre. I still believe he is not a solution to our wide right problem, however.
4) We ended up losing to arguably the best team in Europe because of a jammy deflected goal. We were the better side until Fletcher scored and I was more than impressed with our workrate last night.
Negatives
1) We never looked like scoring in the second half and we didn't have many chances in the first either. Kaboul should have done better with his free header from the corner that resulted from some bad United defending that we should have punished.
It seems that our workrate in the first half had tired the team out when the second half began, which meant United could take control and not have to worry about being threatened as much as they were in the first half.
2) We saw too much of the longball once again. Peter Crouch isn't going to be able to work with that sort of service especially when Ferdinand and Vidic were always there to intercept the ball. It'd be no use using this tactic against Everton either as Lescott and Yobo won't be troubled by it.
3) We seem too reliant on Defoe and Crouch to score but they were barely in the game yesterday. The big man was hustled every time the ball came near him whilst the little man was getting little change out of the United defence.
You look at our midfield of Traore, Diarra, Davis and Diop and it doesn't really scream "goals" does it? If our strikers aren't scoring then the midfielders need to be but it looks far too blunt right now.
4) Chris Foy completely spoiled the game with his incompetent officiating. Crouch was often penalised for nothing and I have never heard such loud ironic cheers when he did finally give something our way.
United fans also had cause for complaint as Wayne Rooney wasn't offside when he slotted the ball past James in the second half so it works both ways. How can referees deserve "respect" when they can't do their jobs properly?
Whatever you think of the performance yesterday I think it is fair to say that United probably just about deserved their victory.
As much as I want to say "The season starts now!" now that the top two are out of the way it isn't very helpful to see "Everton (A)" next up on the fixture list and the very real possibility of being stuck on zero points for all of August.
I think we are going to take a while to gel and Harry also needs to find a balance to the side if our lofty expectations are to be met this season. We can and will get better so I hope our fans would lighten up a little and stop talking about a relegation struggle already!
Pompey Player Ratings
David James: 7 - Largely a spectator bar one good save from a free kick.
Glen Johnson: 7 - Good all round performance.
Younes Kaboul: 6 - Solid but needs to iron out those errors.
Sol Campbell: 7 - Looked much better.
Sylvain Distin: 7 - Didn't look out of place.
Papa Bouba Diop: 7 - Played well on the right for once.
Sean Davis: 6 - Tired out having not played much during pre-season.
Lassana Diarra: 6 - Battled away.
Armand Traore: 6 - Looked impressive at times.
Jermain Defoe: 5 - Barely saw the ball.
Peter Crouch: 5 - Had the wrong type of service.
Substitutes
Jamie Ashdown
Lauren
Hermann Hreidarsson
Jerome Thomas (Traore 56): 7 - Looked lively.
Arnold Mvuemba
John Utaka (Davis 65): 6 - Didn't have much impact.
Ben Sahar