
Football of match winning quality, high-octane, high tempo, energetic and swashbuckling football befitting of an Old Trafford Champions League night, was again conspicous by its absence.There were positives to take in the shape of a clean sheet, only our second of the season, and the performances of Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford - but it's becoming clearer by the day that this is a United side shockingly short of any idea whatsoever. United sit second in Group H and look set in a reasonably strong position, but Valencia should and probably will pick up six points from their double header with Young Boys and United haven't a prayer against Ronnie and co's Juve, so there's every chance we'll go into matchday four in third place in the section.
This was a match in keeping with most of our others this season - the Reds started strongly and, in the opening 15 minutes, pressed high up the pitch and posed problems down the left with Rashford and Shaw linking to promisingly effect. But things soon lapsed into an achingly familiar pattern, with United taking an age to move the ball forwards and our defence looking constantly troubled by the pace and guile of Goncalo Guedes on the counter attack. Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez
were poor again and Rashford fitful. Antonio Valencia offered nothing, and although David de Gea was a virtual spectator, opposite number Neto was hardly overworked either. Lukaku looks like he needs a rest, he's been struggling all season and the impact of his influence on this side continues to fluctuate. At times he resembles a world beater, a player who looks every inch the £75m man we know he can be. Off the back of a brilliant World Cup for Belgium, he should be brimming with confidence but instead he's lethargic, off the pace, his touch is poor, there's no movement,
and, against Valencia, he was isolated and a peripheral figure. He failed to make the most of the one clear opening that came his way when he headed over the top from a corner late on, five yards out and unmarked.

If not for the lack of a genuine 24-carat attacking threat, we'd be sitting here conducting another post mortem after a second defeat in three days and Jose Mourinho may be out of a job.
Man Utd have all the gear but no one - not the manager, not the players, not the board and not the owners- has any idea.
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