United desperately short on quality

LONDON — If this is a sign of things to come at Manchester United, they will soon be singing Ave Maria on the Stretford End rather than heralding the club’s soon-to-be record signing from Real Madrid.

At £60 million (S$124 million), Angel Di Maria will not come cheap when he completes his move, but the edgy and nervous display by Louis van Gaal’s team in this 1-1 draw against Sunderland last night (this morning, Singapore time) suggested that a similar investment must be made in defence and midfield this week if United are to have any hope of challenging for Champions League qualification this season.

Yes, United have injuries to overcome — Chris Smalling joined the casualty list here with a first-half groin injury — but this team are a shadow of those that won 13 league titles under Alex Ferguson and, even with an empty treatment room, Van Gaal’s squad appears well short of the quality of previous United teams.

The only positive from this fixture for United is that Sunderland failed to build on Jack Rodwell’s first-half equaliser, following Juan Mata’s opener, to claim a deserved victory.

The uncertainty and anxiety which United displayed in the opening stages of this fixture are just as likely to be etched on the memory of those involved.

Compromised by injuries to the likes of Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw and Rafael da Silva, Van Gaal was once again forced to turn to Tyler Blackett alongside Phil Jones and Smalling in the same unconvincing back three that was ditched after only 45 minutes of last week’s 2-1 Old Trafford defeat against Swansea City.

With Ander Herrera joining long-term absentee Michael Carrick on the sidelines following a training ground injury, United were also depleted in midfield, where Tom Cleverley partnered Darren Fletcher in the holding positions in front of the back three.

Van Gaal may have been able to restore Robin van Persie to the starting line-up alongside Wayne Rooney, but the alarming sense of chaos at the back suggested that United’s forwards would be spending much of the game watching their defenders fighting fires of their own making.

Sunderland, clearly having the studied the footage of United’s traumatic afternoon against Swansea, targeted the visitors’ defensive frailties from the off, with makeshift wing-back Ashley Young gifting the home side a first-minute opportunity by losing the ball to Connor Wickham 35 yards from goal.

United simply need Evans to regain fitness as quickly as possible and hope that £16 million signing Marcos Rojo enjoys a smooth landing in the Premier League, of which there is no guarantee.

The fact that United were able to resist Sunderland’s early pressure and take the lead through Mata 16 minutes on was no sign that they had got their act together, more a case of scoring against the run of play.

Desperate times result in desperate measures and United, who ended the game with a central midfield pairing of Cleverley and Adnan Januzaj, may find that Di Maria offers little more than wallpaper over a gaping crack.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Other results:

Hull 1 Stoke City 1

Tottenham Hotspur 4 QPR 0