WHY SAY ANYTHING?

Well, after this result at the Hawthorns, we have learnt something more about Louis van Gaal or, should I say, a previous theory has been confirmed.

When he has a lot of injuries and selection is not a very complicated process the team have been getting results. He hasn’t had the luxury of being able to mess around with formations or philosophies etc. He has had to pick whatever has been available and run with it. This had proven to be quite successful recently.

So, now a couple of the more experienced players are back from injury, why would you change a winning formula? I certainly don’t know, it is a question for the arrogant Dutchman to answer.

Of course, there was no way of knowing that a normally reasonably intelligent player like Juan Mata would decide to become stupid for a ten minute period during which he managed to collect two yellow cards. This was obviously never going to help the cause. He was, however, not one of the returning injured and had played throughout the good spell, so his dismissal, while stupid should not have been terminal.

The problem was that United were back to all their bad old habits. They passed sideways, they passed backwards they ran the ball out of play. As you would expect, this did not produce any chances and the huffing and puffing continued until, thankfully, the referee brought an end to the torture.

Too late for United though, who had conceded a soft goal when not marking in their own penalty area and allowing Salomon Rondon to control, turn and fire the ball into the bottom corner.

Van Gaal had replied to this with some strange substitutions. He took off Rashford, who hadn’t done a lot but could have been a goal threat, to replace him with Depay, who didn’t do anything and was never a goal threat. Then he took off Herrera for Schneiderlin and, finally, Darmian for Fosu-Mensah. None of the substitutions were with a view to pulling the goal back, which made them very questionable.

Even one point from this game would never have been good enough. The whole effort should have been to go for all three, which would have put United within two points of Arsenal. In the end they never looked like taking one point and this was all down to van Gaal.

Earlier in the day I had been reading, in some papers anyway, that van Gaal would be allowed to see out his contract at United and then hand over to Giggs. Although I am not religious I am willing to prey that this is false. If United do not appoint Mourinho at the end of the season and they leave this clown in charge for another one then there is no knowing where they will finish!

Mourinho needs to be brought in for two obvious reasons. Firstly, to counter the Guardiola effect at City and, secondly to get United back to winning ways on a far more consistent basis than van Gaal has ever managed.

He may not be prolific in bringing the kids through but he wins things. Other than the class of 92, how many kids did Fergie bring through? In twenty six years there weren’t that many but nobody complained too much. Why? Because United won things!

Ferguson was always very active in the transfer market and most of his best teams were made up of players he had purchased, such as Ince, Keane, Irwin and van Nistelrooy. Mourinho is similar and that should not be perceived as a fault. I am sure that, if he thinks one of the kids is good enough for the first team, he will give him a chance.

This very disappointing season, in which the club has gone backwards, does not need to be followed by another one.