The Red Devils were involved in the Europa League in August when many Premier League teams had already started their preparations for the 2020/21 season.
Most of the Manchester United team barely had a week’s proper training and just one pre-season friendly before the start of the new campaign and Irwin thinks that has been visible in their first two league performances.
They lost to Crystal Palace at home last weekend and needed a dramatic injury-time winner to beat a Brighton side who had dominated the game at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Irwin admits that the need for a proper pre-season cannot be understated and believes the current Manchester United team are nowhere close to the fitness levels needed at the moment.
He thinks that they are visibly struggling due to a lack of fitness and match sharpness, and got a lucky break at Brighton.
Irwin said on MUTV: “If you get through a pre-season with no injuries and you have got the running in the bank, you are going into the season not 100 per cent, but not far off.
“And eventually the matches will get you there and you will be matching the other teams.
“We are nowhere near that at this stage and you have seen that in the first couple of games.
“We are behind the curve and quite a bit behind the curve, in terms of fitness and getting up to match speed.
“That will come eventually, but at the moment we are really struggling, we got away with that one.”
Manchester United may have to raise their game when they host Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford next in the league on Sunday.
They will be visiting Brighton again in midweek for an EFL Cup round of 16 clash.
