West Ham 1-1 Manchester United: Blind saves woeful Reds

If playing badly and winning is the sign of Champions, Louis van Gaal's Manchester United would be twenty points clear. They couldn't quite find the victory at West Ham, but after an utterly wretched performance, Daley Blind popped up with a late equaliser to earn a point.

United looked a shambles from start to finish of the game, and serious questions must be asked of how Van Gaal is managing the team. With Mata and Herrera again on the bench, Van Gaal turned to Marouane Fellaini, only making a second substitution when Luke Shaw was sent off in injury-time.

United started as they meant to go on with sloppy passing, carelessness and a lack of cohesion defining the first forty-five minutes of the game. Enner Valencia had the best chance of the half, but unsurprisingly David de Gea was there to keep United in it and deny the Ecuadorian.

The second half got off to an even worse start, however, as Kouyate soon fired West Ham into the lead. More shoddy defending of a set-piece gave the defender time to juggle the ball before spinning and volleying past De Gea, and United were deservedly behind.

United gained some brief control over the game at this point, but still failed to create any meaningful chances. After a couple of scares from Enner Valencia's aerial prowess, United looked set for an equaliser when decent interplay between Falcao and Van Persie saw the former run free on goal, but he shanked a miserable effort wide, befitting his complete lack of confidence.

Yet just as United seemed to be heading for certain defeat, a long ball found Fellaini pressuring Jenkinson, and the defender could only head it into the path of Blind, who arrived late in the box to smash home an equaliser.

There were only minutes remaining of injury time, but there was still time for Luke Shaw to pick up a second yellow and an early bath, before the referee called time.

There can be no getting away from the performance here - it was utterly wretched, from start to finish, and Van Gaal is not getting the best out of any of these players. Not Rooney, who was anonymous in midfield. Not Van Persie, who had one half-chance all game. Not Falcao, who looks utterly lost, not Di Maria, who was woeful, not Januzaj, whose regression continues, and not Herrera or Mata as both were sat helplessly on the bench. There's a thin line between stubbornness and insanity, and Van Gaal may have just crossed it.