An hour into last Sunday's game at Leicester City, you would have said that Louis van Gaal was turning things round. His Manchester United side were 3-1 up, their attacking might clearly in evidence. Then Jamie Vardy wasn't penalised for bundling over Rafael and United collapsed.
Their implosion was remarkable and it is hard to believe the scars of conceding four goals in such quick succession won’t leave scars. It was the first time they had squandered a two-goal lead in the league for 30 years and suddenly United are feeling the fear they used to inspire in others.
Van Gaal has described this as his “greatest challenge”, which, given the career he has had, says something for the mess United are in. Such is the injury crisis, particularly among defenders, that one of Tom Thorpe and Paddy McNair could make their debuts at centre-back against West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Which makes this a spectacularly bad time to face a West Ham side that last week outplayed Liverpool, winning 3-1 with a performance Sam Allardyce described as the best since he had arrived at the club.
Stewart Downing revelled in a central role at the tip of the diamond, making the most of the space created for him by the movement of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho. In this form, they would be a test for even the most secure of back fours, and United are far from that.
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