Louis van Gaal has simply not grasped the expectations that come with managing United.
Sir Alex Ferguson was vexed: "It was ridiculous- in the second half they went defensive and waited for our mistakes- and we made them, it was very disappointing."
United had conceded two second half goals at City in the FA Cup and SAF opined they had made City 'look better than they were', labelled the performance 'careless' and a win that 'did us no good'. Yes, we had won.
Such standards are alien to Louis van Gaal.
After Saturday's turgid, tepid FA Cup third round win against Sheffield United- in which we mustered only two shots on target- Van Gaal bragged: "How many chances have Sheffield United created - no one is talking about that but we did not give anything away."
So we shouldn't, they are a League One side, LVG.
Ferguson's United struggled against sides out of the top tier - there were the humiliating goalless draws against non-league Exeter and Burton in 2005 and 2006, the gutting defeat to League One Leeds in 2010 and a slender victory at third tier Southampton a year later.
Then, of course, there was the woeful win over then non-league Crawley that proved the death knell for five starters United careers.
LVG's United, though, have laboured against four teams from outside the top flight in a little over a year.
United took 64 minutes to score at League One Yeovil in the third round last year, fired blanks at Cambridge, who we then beat in the replay, and went behind at Deepdale against North End before eventually prevailing.
It was at Yeovil that Van Gaal became Moyesean.
"When you can organise your team like the manager of Yeovil did then you cannot do much about it".
A year on, he continues to spout such soundbites that are unbecoming of a United manager.
Van Gaal is a better coach than Moyes and has done a better job that him in MI6 - however it is arguable he is a worse United manager.
Yes, that apocalyptic 2013-14 season was shockingly bad, but it did at least contain some entertaining moments: a couple of cup runs, a 5-0 European away win, the comeback against Olympiakos and a valiant effort against Bayern Munich.
That there is reverence for Moyes stint highlights how dire it is under Van Gaal and, whatever Reds feeling about Jose Mourinho are, it would not be boring with him in charge.
He has traded blows with Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez, criticised referees, blames everyone but himself, adopts a siege mentality and is a serial winner.
Sound familiar?
At the weekend, Van Gaal actually spoke about how his defence deserved credit.
Supporters, pundits and the media grew weary of eulogising about our defensive record months ago because the club is not synonymous with pragmatism.
Earlier today, he said that us fans should be happy as "winning two in a row is not so easy".
It's soundbites such as these that have alienated the fans and turned many against him.
When you spend nearly £100 million in 18 months, attacking football should be mandatory.
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