Inside Man Utd's turbulent season from Mason Greenwood saga to woeful results as West Ham clash approaches

United go into Saturday's Premier League showdown with West Ham looking to silence their critics, having gone three matches without scoring.

While they battled their way to a commendable goalless draw with Liverpool last time out, it's been a campaign of false dawns so far.

United started the season hopeful. After finishing third in the Premier League last term, and winning the Carabao Cup trophy, it seemed as though they were a team on an upwards trajectory.

Erik ten Hag was backed, having secured credit in the bank with those achievements.

Out went David de Gea, in came Andre Onana.

Out went Fred, with Mason Mount recruited from Chelsea as a replacement.

And with the club still needing a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, big money was spent on the promising, yet raw, Rasmus Hojlund.

However, just days before the new season, controversy struck.

​It emerged that United were planning on reintegrating Mason Greenwood after charges against the youngster had been dropped earlier in the year.

Ten Hag had expected the 22-year-old to be part of his squad for the current campaign. He believed Greenwood would compete with Antony on the right wing, providing the competition for places he craved.

Except when the news broke, the backlash came. Fans from all over the world condemned their stance and United, rather embarrassingly, were forced to climb down.

They instead said that, due to their own investigation, they were confident Greenwood hadn't committed any crime.

And they then loaned out the forward to Getafe, where he's now started to show glimpses of his best form after going 18 months without playing.

That would, however, set the tone for the disastrous season that has followed since.

United battled their way to a 1-0 win over Wolves on the opening day of the season, with Raphael Varane netting the only goal of the game.

Yet they then proceeded to fall to a poor 2-0 defeat away from Tottenham, in the first of a series of bad results that would set alarm bells ringing.

United did bounce back with a victory over Nottingham Forest but defeats to Arsenal, Brighton and Bayern Munich increased the doom and gloom mood around the club.

Ever since, consistency has been a big issue.

United did seem to have turned a corner when Ten Hag won the Manager of the Month award for November, with the Red Devils winning all three of their matches that month.

But their performances as a whole haven't been good enough and they firmly remain a club in crisis.

LATEST SPORTS NEWS:

• Tyson Fury shows off new physique ahead of Oleksandr Usyk boxing fight
• Joey Barton tells trans referee 'you're not well' as former footballer continues to spark controversy
• Luke Littler reveals 'advantage' over darts rivals and responds to huge Phil Taylor praise amid WDC success

Cup competitions haven't brought much solace, either.

United were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle in October, with Eddie Howe's side superior in an emphatic 3-0 win.

And regular mistakes from Onana cost the club dearly in the Champions League, too.

Onana made high-profile errors in two matches against Galatasaray, as well as the away defeat to Bayern Munich in Bavaria.

Had they kept De Gea, arguably their best-ever goalkeeper, things could have been different.

Except we'll never know. And not knowing what to expect from United is something that has been a recurring theme as the campaign has gone on.

Beat West Ham on Saturday and the club will be hopeful they've finally turned a corner.

Given the fighting spirit they showed against Liverpool last time out, it would give fans reason to be optimistic.

However, that defeat would mean more doom.

And which version of United turns up, with the halfway point of the Premier League season nearly upon us, remains to be seen.