The real problem at Manchester United is nothing to do with either David Moyes or Louis Van Gaal.

There has been an issue since before the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. For me there is something that really stands out as a big issue at the club and that is the transfer policy and the lack of strength in the playing squad. Such a squad that will now struggle to compete for the Premiership title.

If you look at Fergie's last season in charge, he knew he was going to retire and wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Twenty four million was spent on Van Persie who propelled the team to glory with 30 goals in all competitions (26 in the Premier League) in his first season. A great bit of business by all accounts, but they needed major investment in other areas, mainly the defence.

The defence has been left looking very poor in quality and depth if you consider that Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra have now all left the club. The likes of Evans, Jones and Rafael really do not add up to the same quality that the players they replaced had.

When Moyes took over, he just wasn't well enough known to the football world outside of England, and he was always going to struggle to attract big enough names to come in and do the job he needed. He was out of his depth from day one. Rumors of Ronaldo and Fabregas turned into him signing Fellani as a panic buy in the summer, and Mata during the January transfer window.

Two panic buys which did nothing to patch up the big holes left in the squad from Ferguson's tenure as manager.

Then you look at Louis Van Gaal, who everyone knows is a world class manager and can attract a lot more big names to the club, and has done so with the likes of Di Maria and Falcao.  But in defense they are still lacking the quality and depth that they so desperately need in order to have a solid enough foundation to challenge for any major honours.

Some can argue that Luke Shaw, Blind and Rojo were good investments but I am not convinced they have the experience or quality to play well enough at the top level of English football yet. To me, this summer's transfer business smacks of desperation. They have a great bunch of forwards to choose from, but I would suggest that the £59million spent on Angel Di Maria could well have been spent elsewhere to recruit two world class defenders and bolster their depleted resources.

This is why I think the real problem at Manchester United actually lies within the transfer policy from a few years ago that saw Fergie choose short term glory rather than long term stability, and the failure from the likes of Ed Woodward to make sure the correct recruitment process was put in place to ensure the right players in the right positions were brought in to the club.

Sure they look to have acquired some superstars, but they will still struggle to go anywhere big this season and the manager is not to blame. The buck stops with Ferguson and Woodward.

United fans are going to have to be patient and realise that it will take some time to get back to the glory days again at Old Trafford.

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