Alex Ferguson stared glumly at the camera and said precisely what the 67,000 people inside the ground had been thinking: "I don't think we'll win the Premiership now."
United had just lost their fifth league game and we are barely into December. Worse, they have lost four and drawn one of their last six. That is not just a crisis, it is relegation form.
In mitigation, United were perhaps unlucky to be meeting a Chelsea side unexpectedly on top of their form, but then it is the nature of teams visiting Old Trafford to raise their game.
It was the sort of challenge the old United relished, but seemingly not any more. Their defence was dire, their midfield uncertain, their attack predictable.
Whether it is the off-field events surrounding the proposed takeover of the club by JP McManus and John Magnier, or the big-name signings Ferguson made in the summer that have disrupted the team's football, the players are acting as if they have other things on their minds.
United are now said to be targeting Bolton's £5 million sterling goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Phil Neville, who put in their only decent performance on Saturday, said he was still optimistic but admitted: "It's going to be a monumental effort for us to win the league now. We're not going to give up; we're going through a bad run at the moment and we have to get out of it."
That, however, may be easier said than done. The team look drained of self-belief and are reaching the stage where they are playing for themselves rather than for each other.
Ferguson blamed the stuttering form on repeated errors, which have now spread with the speed of a computer virus from goalkeeper to defence to midfield to attack.
Once the £19 million Ruud van Nistelrooy had seen his point-blank shot beaten away by Carlo Cudicini in the third minute, United surrendered the upper hand to Chelsea and the visitors could have been four up by half-time.
United's biggest error came when Wes Brown allowed Mario Melchiot a free header from a corner to open the scoring for Chelsea. Brown, whose game is going to pieces, was also at fault for the third when Eidur Gudjohnsen slipped past him to steer the ball past Fabien Barthez.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had already sidefooted over, Sam Dalla Bonna had miscued and Graeme Le Saux had shuddered the crossbar before the second goal in the 64th minute.
The £28 million Juan Sebastian Veron tried to play the ball across the middle of the field but gave it to Hasselbaink. Roy Keane, who was trying to shore up the defence alongside the ageing Laurent Blanc, was sucked inside and Hasselbaink exchanged passes with Gudjohnsen before burying the ball in the far corner.
United now lie eight points behind Liverpool, who lead the table. The most games a side have lost in winning the Premiership is seven by Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95.
"I'm saying it's going to be very difficult because by the statistics you can only lose six games and we have already lost five," Ferguson told the club's television station. "So from here to the end of the season we can only afford to lose one game. So it's a mountain."
It is clear United are undergoing some sort of sea change. Having Keane in the defence removed the fight from the midfield, and up front van Nistelrooy rarely moved from a narrow strip along the edge of the area and was snuffed out by the excellent John Terry and his partner, William Gallas.
United's route one football hardly helped, a succession of long balls merely inviting Chelsea to launch their incisive counter-attacks.
"United are still a good side and, with the players they've got, they are still going to be challenging for the title," said Terry. The thousands streaming for the exits before the end were not so sure.
Ferguson needs to recapture the fire that once burned in his side before they welcome Boavista in the Champions League on Wednesday. But is he brave enough to drop Blanc, Veron and van Nistelrooy?
MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Brown, Blanc, Keane, Phil Neville, Beckham (Solskjaer 76), Scholes, Veron, Fortune (Gary Neville 67), Cole (Chadwick 90), van Nistelrooy. Subs Not Used: Carroll, Silvestre. Booked: Scholes, van Nistelrooy.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Melchiot, Terry, Gallas, Babayaro, Jokanovic, Dalla Bona, Lampard, Le Saux (Stanic 84), Hasselbaink (Forssell 82), Gudjohnsen (Zola 88). Subs Not Used: de Goey, Zenden. Booked: Babayaro, Jokanovic, Le Saux.Goals: Melchiot 6, Hasselbaink 64, Gudjohnsen 86.
Referee: A Wiley (Burntwood).
