It was never meant to be this hard.
Yes, the great man had gone, finally taking up his much deserved retirement offer after 27 years in the job and it was always going to be tough for Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement - make that mission impossible - to try and keep that success going.
But United essentially still had the same team that had won the championship the season twice in the last 3 seasons and only missed out on the title on goal difference in one of them.
Surely, David Moyes was onto a winner here and could ensure the team would at least stay relevant in the season.
But it appears that the energy Ferguson poured into the likes of Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, etc. has gone out with his retirement and suddenly, Manchester United has been left with an aging side and one badly needing transformation.
Indeed, United's inconsistent form this season and lack of potency at home and away from home might very well be the death knell of their title aspirations for this season - and at this rate, United will be very lucky to scrape home with Champions League football.
They're still likely to finish 4th, you'd think although we are currently in unchartered territory here.
The fact is that it has been quite some time since Manchester United lost 2 games in a row at home. Moreover, it's the first time that Manchester United have lost to sides like Newcastle United, Everton, West Brom at home for a long time - sides who have had long droughts at Old Trafford and for so long would have been a default 3 points for the home side.
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| Wayne Rooney's absence has been telling |
The fact is that Manchester United are not the same side without Wayne Rooney.
They are after all mortal.
It is evident that if Manchester United are to fix this and avoid the disaster of not finishing in the top 4 coupled with their worst finish in the Premier League history, they will need to strengthen.
However, that time might not be the winter transfer window in January.
Indeed, David Moyes may need more time to assess what his long-term signings should be particularly considering the mixed success of Marouane Fellaini so far this season.
The Belgian midfielder who was a key in Moyes' Everton success can still be a success at Old Trafford once he gets over his injuries but he is trying to find his best form at a time when the pressure really is on at Old Trafford - not a great time to find form for someone still trying to find his feet at Manchester United.
Andreas Herrera and Ivan Rakitic - stars in La Liga - have been mentioned as options for United this January but like Fellaini, the jury is out as to whether they can miraculously turn United into title contenders overnight.
The fact is that much, much more needs to be done to get this United side back to where it was. Guys like Adnan Januzaj, Nick Powell, Tom Cleverley and Wilfred Zaha will be the key but Moyes does need some backbone - i.e. a defensive midfielder and defender as opposition sides have been able to exploit a great weakness there that United have been able to hide for so long.
So mission impossible just got harder. But it's definitely not quite time to call time on the manager just yet.
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