It's been killing me too figuring out what's wrong with us, particularly because both under Van Gaal and Mourinho we've had phases and matches where we looked alright too. Another weird similarity between the two is the big matches, we had the mighty Liverpool 2-0 down at Old Trafford before half time not that long ago last season. How can a team able to play like that in such a big match look so clueless now?
One element that always pops up in my mind is the fact that we're the biggest club in England, every team is out for our scalp and plays with an intensity they don't have in other matches. I always bring up Ferguson alluding to this in a letter to Cantona once:
"I am sure you have been keeping an eye on our results and as you can see we are doing quite well as you know we have signed Teddy Sheringham to replace you but at the moment he is finding it difficult to find the space he got at Tottenham and is playing deep so we have some adjusting to do. Players sometimes don't realise how difficult it is to play at our level as every game is a Cup Final for our opponents so I just hope he can do it for us."
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...e-left-manchester-united-i-kept-10513163.html
This is perfectly illustrated if you look at last year's league table, where we lost to WBA who were relegated, lost against Huddersfield, lost two points against Stoke and Southampton who finished in 17th and 19th place. And now against promoted Wolves who just had their biggest occasion in years against United at Old Trafford.
Dealing with teams who approach the match like it's the biggest match in their life is definitely a problem for us, and a lot of teams play that way when they face Manchester United. It takes a certain mentality to brush them off and we clearly don't have it. But this isn't 100% the explanation for our struggles either.
Maybe it's Mourinho and Van Gaal both being huge control freaks despite applying different ideologies that stiffles us. But then again there has been a serious lack of individual (attacking) talent in our squads too for years now. Saw Feyenoord against Utrecht yesterday where a 35 Robin van Persie lead the line in a way Lukaku could only dream off really.
Before RVP it was prime Rooney, before that Ronaldo, we've not had any attacking player who were on that level for at least 6 months since Ferguson retired.