first off I am a liverpool fan

Secondly United fans have finally accepted at this current moment in time they are nowhere near title challengers for this season and the upcoming one or two

Even Van Gaal said it would take three years to get the team together, I think united will creep up this season, I think 4th/5th

Once they sort the defence out I think they will be up their again, likes of Di Maria,Falcao,Herrera,Mata,Rooney, quality players just need time to embed with the team

Give it a year or so & I think Van Gaal will be a success, but at this current moment in time just average leaking goals.

But attacking threat is good,Dont hate I aint biased

Poor transfer business combined with bad fitness coaching and stubborn managerial tactics - Those are (for me) the main reasons for United's partial capitulation.

The season relies on the January transfer window. United need to bring in an experienced central defender. If that happens, United can get their season back on track.

Fellaini also needs to be used a lot more. Blind is not suited to play the midfield role Van Gaal wants. Compare Blind to Matic of Chelsea - very different physiques, very different play styles. Fellaini isn't perfect for that role (he's actually better in attacking midfield) but it's probably not in United's best interest to fork out a tonne of cash for somebody like VIdal (you've spent enough already, this is not 'the United way' at all).

Mata or Rooney should be sold. There's not room in the squad for both unless Rooney goes up front. You've got a trio of attacking players in Falcao, Rooney and Van Persie who are eating up a ridiculous amount of wages.

Ideally, I'd like the post-United line up to be

De Gea
Rafael Rojo Hummels Shaw
Blind Fellaini Herrera
Di Maria
Rooney Falcao

In a more realistic world, maybe a less wanted CB like Shawcross (who is relatively experienced and very physical)

The midfield trio (with Di Maria occasionally joining them) allows you to crowd out the midfield - A very beneficial tactic. Even Rooney can drop a little deeper, allowing Falcao to play a target man role (flourished that way at Atletico).

TopBet.eu is predicting a 1-1 draw. I dunno, on paper they have an amazing (and expensive) line-up but that line-up hasnt brought the wins many anticipated. Juan Mata will need to bring that momentum from his game winner against Crystal Palace. With the roster as it is, it will be up to one player to bolster the rest to pull off anything better than the 1-1 prediction.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

I support Man United and think they aren't doing as good as they can be doing but I think we just have to give Van Gaal some time.
One big problem with the team is the defence.
Shaw I think is our best defender. Rojo I think his just doing really bad since he joined. Its the same with the rest. Also Van Gaal needs to play Fellaini more as he is a brillant player, much better than Blind.

The only big problem with Man U I think is the defence.

As said before and keep saying and what everyone is saying the Defence is the issue.

Let me just tell you the defence for the past game:

Valencia - McNair - Blind - Shaw

Not looking good is it which brings me up to injuries, Injuries are massive problem as we don't really have squad depth.

For a successful and winning team you have to have a balanced team, Manchester United are not a balanced team.

A balanced team for example is Chelsea. Chelsea have a quality play for every position even GK. They also have back up players for each position too.

Until we get a balanced team we wont be getting number 21 for a while.

Once they get a better midfield and defence they'll compete.

I dont think they'll win the league under Van Gaal though, hes had much easier games than Moyes had so far and a better squad, apart from their attack they've not improved at all ( and the only reason they'll improved offensively is because they've spend over 100m )but because Van Gaal has been successful in the past people over look this.

To be honest I think there time has gone for a while, there has always been a team who wins everything for 5 years or so then changes happen and they go quiet for a while. This has happened to Liverpool and forest in the 20th century. Anything could happen that's why football is such a fun, exciting and thrilling aspect to sport!

im a liverpool fan, and nobody can deny that Manchester United were THE team a couple of years ago, but Liverpool were once THE team, and we still have not recovered, so United may be in for a shock in the long term

Every team has their 'time' as people are calling it. Looks like it's time for Chelseas.

As for United, they shouldn't be expecting to win anything with that team. I'm all for giving your youth a go but that defence is pathetic. They would be conceding 5 a game if it wasn't for De Gea.

RVP seems to have lost it this season, don't know what's going on with him but there's talk about him being sold already.

Saying all this, you cant write them off just yet, with the players they have going forward anything can happen they have so many players who can turn nothing into something.