Jose Mourinho responds to the suggestion he may be as culpable as his players.Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
The famed neurologist and author Oliver Sacks once told a story of a white-winged butterfly that, during the Industrial Revolution, quickly turned soot-coloured on being exposed to the grime of the city. He called it "accelerated evolution."
Watching Manchester United being put into a sleeper-hold via accumulative ennui in Saturday's goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion, and then recalling Sir Alex Ferguson signing off 26 years at Old Trafford with a 5-5 draw against the same opposition, the phrase that came to mind was accelerated devolution.