Definitive opinions remain elusive. You can say momentarily: good performance, bad performance; this player played well, this one played badly. But we are moving out of that hazy period, to a 14-day spell in March when opinions can harden. Arsenal in the FA Cup and Tottenham (home) and Liverpool (away) in the league. To reach an FA Cup semi-final and pick up four league points in those games would put United within striking range of ending the season on a high. Those results go wrong, and this could be a baptism of fire for Louis Van Gaal in his first season.