Paul Pogba is struggling to settle at Man United but he's not the only one

After another disappointing shift in a Manchester United shirt this weekend, there was at least one major positive for Paul Pogba: He's not Wayne Rooney. The England captain's performance against Watford was so wretched that it invoked a surge of criticism from a number of hitherto restrained voices in the media. And so, as what had in happier times appeared to be a routine League Cup tie against lower league Northampton Town now looms ominously ahead, all the focus is on Rooney and his besieged manager Jose Mourinho.

For this reason, Pogba is a very fortunate young man. Last week, after a poor showing against Feyenoord, the pressure was starting to build and he was worryingly anonymous at Vicarage Road. He offered no shots on target, no chances created and a passing success rate of just 76 percent. His most notable contribution was a long-range effort that bounced off the crossbar in the first half but aside from that, it was another very quiet afternoon.

The above would be bad enough for any Manchester United midfielder but for someone who cost nearly £100 million, it's very concerning. The all action, box-to-box, combative, goal-scoring superstar that United paid for doesn't seem to have turned up yet.

It should be noted that the recent history of English football is full of imported superstars who endured uncertain beginnings to life in the Premier League. Luka Modric arrived at Tottenham in 2008 and seemed far too small and frail to cope for the first six months. Then he found his feet in style. Didier Drogba only just reached double figures in his first league season at Chelsea before extending that tally to a very modest 12 in 2005-06. He's now regarded as a club legend. More recently, there's the assist-monster Mesut Ozil, whose first two seasons in England were rather understated given how much he had cost. Not everyone settles instantly.

And while Pogba has three years of life experience in Manchester to draw on, his situation is rather different now. Between 2009 and 2012, he was just one of many highly rated young men striving for a chance in the first team. Now there are expectations and pressures with which he was never previously burdened. Whether it's fair or not, there are certain standards for players of his profile and he has fallen well short.

This isn't the first slow start to the season that Pogba has endured, either. This time last year, his former club Juventus were on a run that saw them win just one of their first six games. If United improve as Juve did, winning 26 of their last 28 games, few will remember games like Watford. But there are no signs of similar turnaround.

Blaming Pogba alone for this anti-climatic arrival isn't entirely fair. Manchester United's shape is so indistinct that it's no surprise to see so many players struggling. It's very unusual for a Mourinho team to look this listless. His second title-winning Chelsea side were often accused of being boring but that was always a harsh judgement. They were just very efficient. The flanks were locked down with Eden Hazard and Willian providing protection for their full-backs. The midfield was disciplined, with Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas providing a solid, creative base for the sorties of Oscar. In that season and for most of the one that preceded it, the whole Chelsea team moved like a race-tuned engine, gleaming pistons pumping up and down. This United side looks like a cake that went wrong in the oven.

On the pitch, Pogba seems to have little idea of where his responsibilities lie. After watching him flail around against Feyenoord, Paul Scholes told a British TV audience, "I don't really know what position he's playing at the minute. Has he got a position? Has he been told to play where he wants?" Mourinho is not a manager who tends to offer boundless freedom to his players and you could very rarely accuse his team of being under-prepared, so what's happening out there?

In this raggedy midfield, it's Marouane Fellaini, of all people, who looks most effective where he uses his height and strength to good effect. But he's often left so isolated that opponents have an almost clear run at the United defence.

The problem here isn't solely Pogba any more than it is solely Rooney. The problem is the lack of cohesive shape. United currently look like an England team: big name, marketable footballers crowbarred into a team at the cost of balance. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front, there has to be pace around him. But that's not all.

On Sunday, Rooney completed just six forward passes in 90 minutes. There has to be a bolder use of the ball. There has to be someone to link midfield with attack. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a stinker against Manchester City but he showed at Borussia Dortmund that he can take the ball and run with it. And is there a place for Michael Carrick, whose distribution is sorely missed?

It's easy enough to blame the big money new signing for not performing but as poor as Pogba has been, the problems at United seem rather more widespread than that. With just five league games under his belt, it's perfectly understandable that Mourinho doesn't yet know his best team. But if he is still the manager he was in the past, he needs to figure it out quickly.

Never mind Pogba. Right now, there are very few United players who look up to scratch.

Iain Macintosh covers the Premier League and Champions League for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @IainMacintosh.