Manchester United is now 3-5-0, without an away victory, and having drawn against West Brom on Saturday at Old Trafford.
To put it another way: After eight matches, United is just three points clear of Bolton Wanderers in the table.
Most of the finger pointing has gone to two places: the so-called "leaky defense" and Wayne Rooney.
Many of the goals conceded by United have been of the unlucky sorts — Patrice Evra's pinball machine own goal against Albion on Saturday, Darren Fletcher's deflection goal against Bolton, and Fletcher's inability to close the wall on Steven Gerrard's set piece against Liverpool to name a few. An inordinate quantity of the conceded goals, such as Edwin Van der Sar's gaffe against Albion, have been very untimely, but in the usual run of play, United's defense has looked nervy at times, but not actually conceded often. In short, the defense has been untimely and unlucky — not poor.
Those issues will likely correct themselves. Rio Ferdinand has looked strong in his return, and Rafael seems to be improving, but even if the defense continues its peculiar run, that wouldn't be normally be an issue for United.
The problem is that the team isn't putting games out of reach. Most would attribute this to Rooney's absense, injury and Tiger Woods-esque mental collapse, but a team of United's class shouldn't struggle to score without him. They've only been shut out twice this season, against Sunderland and Rangers, but even so, they've certainly haven't scored at their customary pace. United shouldn't just be leading West Brom 2-0 — leaving the door just that little bit open. Chelsea would stretch that lead to 4-0, 5-0, or even 6-0, and United has yet to even score four this season.
Although Rooney's injury is significant, the injuries to Antonio Valencia and Ryan Giggs may actually matter much more. Without Rooney but with those two players, the side can maintain its balance and use its disciplined and structured attack to break down defenses, but without them, the entire game seems to run through Nani. Talented as he may be — and though he may score at a decent rate — that's not a winning proposition.
Oftentimes, Nani looks like the new incarnation of Cristiano Ronaldo. He plays with incredible pace, flair and creativity — with some diving thrown in, but the reality is that he just isn't Ronaldo, and his style of play gets in the way of United's offensive ambitions.
While he is capable of being an incredible distributor, Nani more often than not dribbles himself — and the team — out of chances. He had Javier Hernandez wide open for a goal in the first half against West Brom, but instead chose to dance around until he turned the ball over. This was far from the only time that has ever happened.
With Nani such a significant part of the offense, the team seems to struggle to hold possession in the opposing third. Basically, they turn it over far more than they did in seasons past — which often leads to the aforementioned fluke goals. The rest of the team also appears static off the ball — perhaps because they just expect Nani to keep it.
Without Rooney — or Ronaldo — Nani seems like Alex Ferguson's best bet as a playmaker, but while he can be brilliant, he may actually destroy more chances than he creates, and his lack of discipline seems to negatively impact the rest of the squad.
A Scholes-Fletcher-Anderson-Park midfield may not have any of the flash that you'd get if Nani were included, but the group would make better decisions, be surer on defense, and allow the structured United offensive machine to work as it it customarily does. Without Rooney or Ronaldo, United needs to fall back on the intelligent, disciplined system that has allowed it to succeed.
Nani should focus on becoming part of such, not trying to fill the voids left by United's true leading men. Only then will the team start winning in "Manchester United time" — or having big enough leads to not even have to worry — not drawing with West Brom.
