Are Manchester United In Trouble?

Life is often a song. If there is one song that Manchester United fans are hearing right now - even if they don't want to - it's Taylor Swift's Trouble.

And one wonders if some not so loyal and educated Man United fans think that they knew that David Moyes was trouble, trouble, trouble.

In reality, David Moyes was always going to be up against it, with United's early fixture list the hardest they've probably ever had.

Still to only get one point from their matches against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City is not a good return for any manager, especially one who needs to make their mark on the fans and the team.

In fact, look beyond the 0-0, 1-0 and 4-1 results and you can see that United are a team with fundamental problems that have somewhat been masked by probably the 3rd best attacking force in world football.

Aguero blossomed while van Persie sat this one out

Take out or work out Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney and you're left with a United side bereft of ideas and also with too many holes in midfield and defence.

The performance at the Etihad on Sunday clearly underlined some problems that United have in midfield. The defence is great but when there's not much protection, they are always going to be exposed especially when they have a bad day.

United have had problems in midfield for the last 4 years but have somewhat always been able to mask that thanks to their great attacking force. Scholes and Giggs are not the force that they were in the last few seasons and Carrick is only one man - United just haven't quite been able to find the sort of figure Roy Keane was back in the day - someone to boss the midfield like Aaron Ramsey at Arsenal or Yaya Toure at City.

And such deficiencies are accentuated in what is set to be the most open title race in ages. City's midfield has always been quality even with the loss of Gareth Barry - they've kept Yaya Toure, possibly their most influential man in the middle and against whatever Moyes put on the field, it was like men versus boys.

Is Fellaini the new Roy Keane/Bryan Robson?

Moyes' last hope for salvation is Marouane Fellaini - who looked quite lost on Sunday although it is to be expected for one playing only his second game for United in a brand new team. Fellaini has shown his versatility to sit back and then push forward at Everton and he'll need the same type of form if United are to cure their midfield issues.

I think Fellaini's time will come and he should come good later in the season but he isn't getting much support from his United team-mates. The likes of Shinji Kagawa, Tom Cleverley and Nani are good attacking but not so good defending, and Fellaini could be the key to allowing any three of those to excel up front.

However, if Moyes is to excel long-term, he needs to start looking at putting to pasture guys like Giggs and Carrick and invest for the future. Just as Roy Keane did for Ferguson, Moyes will need a new heart in the centre if he is to continue the success of his legendary predecessor or risk being another United managerial flop.

It's still early days but at this stage, United might be the ones needing to rely on home form to be title contenders - it means they may very well be on the back foot at this time.

To the joy of Liverpool and Manchester City fans.