Manchester United have no excuse

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Manchester United have no excuse not to reach Champions League
For all the upheaval at Manchester United in recent times, they have spent more than €257 million on new signings since they ran away with the Premier League title in 2012.

Louis van Gaal is experiencing a few teething problems at the start of the new campaign but there is no excuse if United again fail to secure a Champions League place for next season.

Without the complication of European fixtures this season, United can focus solely on the league and they now have the best attack in the country in Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria and Juan Mata.

Expectations may have fallen at Old Trafford but Van Gaal will have failed if he can’t guide a team with this much quality to a top-four finish, even with the atrocious state of his defence.

United have started slowly and suffered embarrassing losses to Swansea and Leicester, yet six games into the campaign they are ahead of Liverpool and Everton, level with Tottenham, just two points behind Arsenal and three off champions Manchester City.

Ed Woodward, the club’s executive vice-chairman, has said the expectation this season is to finish third in the table and that should be well within United’s reach.

Champions Manchester City and leaders Chelsea are miles better than the chasing pack and will likely streak away from their rivals in a two-horse race for this season's title.

Beyond that, though, the candidates for the remaining two Champions League spots all have significant question marks hanging over them, as well as glaring holes in their squads.

Liverpool are already toiling without Luis Suarez and with the added complication of midweek Champions League fixtures, Arsenal are suffering from their age-old problems, chielfly failing to deal with set-pieces and floundering without a defensive midfielder fit for purpose.

United’s defence is terrible and looked an utter mess in the 5-3 defeat to Leicester last weekend, but the issue is surmountable, particularly if Van Gaal is finally able to sign a top-class central defender in January.

At the moment, United are going through a painful period as the players adapt to Van Gaal’s philosophy while building a chemistry as, essentially, a new team.

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