Whilst Manchester United certainly managed to impress last time out against a rather hapless Stoke City side, Louis van Gaal and his somewhat unpredictable Red Devils outfit have ultimately failed to satisfy the demanding Old Trafford faithful for the vast majority of the 2015/16 campaign thus far.

The once dominant force within the English top-flight crashed out of the Champions League group stages without putting up much of a fight not so long ago, the style of football employed by LVG of late has often been tiresome to say the very least and although captain Wayne Rooney certainly seems to be back amongst the goals of late, this current Red Devils team lack a real threat in the final third. Plenty of work to do, it would seem.

So then, as the month of January eventually proved rather forgettable Old Trafford this year – will Manchester United regret failing to spend big this winter, or does Van Gaal already have enough quality on board to turn things around?

Well, although much has admittedly been said about the Red Devils and their intrinsic failure to satisfy the club’s passionate fan-base on an almost week-to-week basis, Man United simply fail to represent a team in complete crisis right in the here and now.

The January transfer period proved somewhat of a non-event for most of the big sides operating in the Premier League this season, and even though some sections of the vast support were calling for a vast overhaul at their club this winter, there wasn’t exactly an abundance of targets made available to Van Gaal.

Whilst the current Premier League table may in fact paint Manchester United out in a rather unkind light - seeing as the Red Devils have failed to hold down a deserved spot among the top-four for the most part this term – the Old Trafford faithful certainly shouldn’t be giving up hope just yet.

Van Gaal’s side remain just 10 points off leaders Leicester City after all, and as we all know how effective Man United have traditionally proven to be towards the tail-end of seasons, perhaps a last minute revival could indeed take place.

However, even though the Red Devils remain far from a club on the brink of disaster with all things considered, perhaps they do actually risk falling behind their Premier League opposition in the not too distant future – especially as local rivals, Manchester City, have just announced the highly coveted capture of Pep Guardiola for the 2016/17 campaign.

Put in no uncertain terms whatsoever, this is the weakest looking ManUnited outfit we have witnessed in quite some time. It therefore comes as little surprise that LVG has failed to implement an attractive playing style, even if the enigmatic Dutch manager must still take his fair share of the blame for what has gone wrong.

The January transfer window could have served to boost the team throughout the rest of the upcoming campaign, simply giving the club that added chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season in reliable style.

Yes, such an outcome can still obviously take place, but in failing to possess a no-nonsense spine of well-established top class players, Man United will undoubtedly find themselves struggling to keep up in the long run.

This often fluctuating Red Devils outfit simply needed to improve their overall squad one way or another this winter, for without the glistening prospect of Champions League football on the table over the summer, attracting genuine world-class talent to Old Trafford may prove a task much easier said than done…

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