West Brom head coach Alan Irvine insists Manchester United are still a force and warned his side to treat them with respect.
The Baggies host United on Monday and Irvine reckons the former champions are still a top draw.
United chief Louis van Gaal has seen his side lose 5-3 at Leicester and stunned 4-0 in the Capital One Cup by MK Dons already this season.
They are 11 points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea following Van Gaal's stuttering start since replacing David Moyes in the summer.
Victory would move Albion level on points with United but, while Irvine believes they are in transition, he is wary of their threat.
He said: "They are still Manchester United and have some great players. It's going to be a huge game for our club, players and fans.
"When the fixtures come out most people up and down the country look to see when they are playing Manchester United at home.
"They have been a fantastic team over the years but the squad was looking like it was going to need some changes and I read something from Sir Alex Ferguson saying it has needed an overhaul.
"It was getting to that time and David Moyes inherited that situation. It's a period of transition.
"Manchester United have been dominant for many years so they are eventually going to have to change and that's the situation they are in at the moment."
The Baggies have won three of their last four games after failing to win their opening four league matches.
United have beaten Everton and West Ham in their last two outings and Irvine has called on Albion to shut them down early.
"They will work the ball out and we've got to make sure they don't get moves started easily," he said.
"We've done our video work and there are clips of them scoring goals where it starts with the goalkeeper and ends up in the back of the net.
"Clearly that involves a lot of control and a lot of movement and good positioning of their players.
"We've got to be really well organised when we don't have the ball in order to stop them building these attacks.
"But one of the things we've spoken about is the need for us to be really good with the ball and not give it back really cheaply to players of the quality of Manchester United."
Source: PA
