CAMBRIDGE, England -- Three thoughts from Manchester United's 0-0 draw with Cambridge United in the FA Cup fourth round.
Louis van Gaal was unhappy. Manchester United fans were unhappy. This was not a night that went in any way to plan. Manchester United may now be the second-biggest earners in football, as announced by Deloitte this week, but Cambridge United, the lowest-ranked team left in the FA Cup, gave them a run for all that money. A team of free transfers held on, and were more than worthy of a lucrative replay.
Serious doubts must now circle Van Gaal's regime. The promised improvement after three months has been and gone. And after what looked like lift-off in December, his United have stalled. A battle for fourth place in the Premier League is now on with Arsenal, Liverpool and Southampton, and the FA Cup is the sole trophy on offer to them. That chance of silverware was often in huge danger of being surrendered to minnows playing with unstinting dedication to their cause.
Van Gaal's team dominated possession, especially in the second half. But as has happened so often during his reign, there was a sterility about the domination. By the time the match reached 80 minutes, Manchester United were enjoying 87 percent of the ball, but could still not cut through an opponent whose management of angles and channels was a credit to manager Richard Money. And beyond that, Cambridge exerted their own pressure, as David De Gea was forced to claw away an arrowing Ryan Donaldson corner.
A replay at Old Trafford was almost as great a prize for Cambridge as the scalp of the most famous club in English football, and was celebrated as so by the locals.
Robin Van Persie was thrown on from the 67th minute as Van Gaal trotted out the big guns. Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria forced a great double save from goalkeeper Chris Dunn's box, but the two Uniteds finished deservedly level.
2. No devilment for Reds
Wayne Rooney was enjoying Friday night at home in his Cheshire mansion, vacating his now-habitual midfield position. The talk in Manchester is that he is resting up a troublesome toe. That meant another start for Radamel Falcao, and as reward for scoring last week at QPR, James Wilson.
Both suffered from a sincere lack of service in the first half. Falcao's running down the channels was often intelligent enough, but too often an additional pass was made when direct action was required. Wilson, who changed the game at Rangers last week, was anonymous, and subbed off.
Falcao's frustrations are barely concealed as he toils to restore a reputation damaged by his spell at United. A Michael Carrick pass just beyond the hour was received by a loose touch but a low finish that Dunn saved well.
The Colombian and his young English partner, however, could rightly complain of a lack of decent service. As at QPR, there was the sight of Phil Jones taking left-hand-side corners. It is going to take some getting used to. As with his efforts at Loftus Road, he barely managed to clear the first defender with any of his attempts, and the ball was cleared with embarrassing ease.
Jones, meanwhile, was in no sort of form in open play. He became a figure of fun among home fans for errant passing and some clumsy movement that opened up dangerous spaces for Cambridge's forwards to make series of half-chances. A player once held up as a beacon of the future can look cumbersome at his worst.
The same goes for Marouane Fellaini. Goal-scoring heroics last week, when the Belgian got United's first goal, were not repeated as he was withdrawn into the deep. A typically clumsy tackle saw him booked on 28 minutes, which clipped his wings a little, and perhaps made him rethink his approach. Before that, it had been bull-in-a-china shop stuff.
It was little surprise that both Wilson and Fellaini were withdrawn as Van Gaal chased a winner.
3. Troubled diamond gala
Louis van Gaal says that playing a diamond makes his rear end twitch, as it unbalances his team, and this was a performance to continue such discomfort. Three at the back was sidelined, but United were just as incoherent as they were for much of last week's win at QPR.
Playing 4-3-3, United were disjointed, slow in possession, with speedy players never receiving the ball on the run.
Januzaj made a start for the first time since November after a spell of heavy speculation that he might be loaned out, or even sold. Last season's young knight in shining armour has suffered from a lack of opportunities amid the influx of multimillion-pound signings, though it says much that he featured so rarely when Van Gaal's options have been so reduced by repeated injuries. He was among United's slicker performers, though never got the ball in enough dangerous positions until that late chance cleared hurriedly by desperate Cambridge defending.
Trouble stalked Manchester United in the shape of Cambridge's energetic football. Victor Valdes did not get the expected start that some had predicted in United's goal, and that may have been for the reason that David De Gea has become a keeper of considerable aerial prowess. Barca legend Valdes might not have been so used to the bombs that Cambridge sought to rain down on United's defence. De Gea was none too comfortable himself, however. Money had detailed his team to surround the United keeper in numbers when a corner was won.
The first two saw De Gea miss the ball in a swirling wind whipping along the East Anglia plain, and two decent chances resulted for Cambridge, with defender Josh Coulson's header landing on the roof of the net following a horrendous scramble.
There might also be the case for United playing De Gea as much as they can while they still can. Agent Jorge Mendes' comments on Friday had been on the negative side of noncommittal.
