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The sunshine saturated Manchester United's new Adidas shirts peppered around Old Trafford and there were some ostentatious flicks from one cocksure individual in a three stripes tracksuit before kick-off.

A scene reminiscent of August '89, the similarities ended with referee Jon Moss' first shrill, as the raucous rendition of '20 times' quickly subsided in favour of Georgie Best's ditty.

Unlike Alex Ferguson's expensively-assembled pretenders 26 years ago, Louis van Gaal's United were rigid, drab and unconvincing. One shot on target in 90 minutes and a goal courtesy of an opponent on a day defenders and the goalkeeper excelled summarised an insipid afternoon.

And yet United won. Ferguson's last three title sides recorded numerous victories with what Jorge Valdano described as 's**t on a stick' football and it is an approach that has served Van Gaal well with the Netherlands and United over the last 18 months.

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United supporters, though, had hoped for entertainment after £220m was spent on reinforcements. Van Gaal's 'process' excuse last season was understandable, given the messy state of the squad and integration of new arrivals. The process would be smoother if United started in a formation conducive to their strengths.

Starting two holding defensive-minded midfielders in a home game against most sides is negative. Ferguson's team talk for one Spurs visit was 'Lads, it's Tottenham.' Van Gaal's might have given the impression Tottenham were the champions.

As early as the sixth minute, a United counter-attack ended with the ball in the final third - of their own half. Juan Mata, as elegant and languid as Dimitar Berbatov, dithered on the right without Ander Herrera's impetus. A player prone to turning into blind alleys, it was reassuring to see him atone with the direct route for United's winner.

The 4-2-3-1 United have now adopted has left the team static. Michael Carrick has traditionally struggled in an axis and again looked like a player pining for support ahead of him, rather than beside him. He was at his most effective last season at the base of a trio, with Herrera and Marouane Fellaini tasked with supporting Wayne Rooney.

Memphis Depay, the player whose sorcery in front of an enraptured Stretford End evoked memories of Michael Knighton's keep-ups, was also inhibited. As one Dutch football tweeter posted, "Watching Memphis in the middle is strange. His main attribute is cutting in from the left and shooting. Strange tactic from Van Gaal."

Depay has a winger's number on his back and should be treated like one. Carrick and Schneiderlin were outnumbered by Spurs' midfield triumvirate and became detached from Depay, an isolated figure whose adventurousness was stymied due to a patent lack of support. Mata, though decisive for the winner, was another square peg jammed into a round hole.

When it was suggested United's attack lacked pace, some claimed Rooney was quick. He was anything but when he took an age to allow Kyle Walker to pass the ball into his own net.

Rooney, like David de Gea's situation and the lack of a proven central defender, is another reason why United will not come close to winning the league. United's attack is dependent on his fitness but Rooney is merely a dormant poacher. One Red damningly - and justifiably - opined United 'would have won comfortably with Kane up front rather than Rooney'. Van Gaal needs another striker to challenge Rooney's role.

The solution to United's pragmatism is obvious: revert to the 4-3-3 formation which served them so well in the spring - when Van Gaal seemed to have brought a new identity to the club - switch Depay to the left and restore Ander Herrera to the starting XI.

A United supporter who doesn't think Herrera should be in the team is rarer than an assured Rooney first touch, though it was revealing that goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek rollocked Herrera late in the game. The coaching staff's sole touchline presence all afternoon, Hoek appeared to be disgruntled by Herrera's positioning, only the Basque's forward-thinking in added time left him with his own acreage ahead of a one-on-one with Michel Vorm. Instead, Ashley Young played the ball to Rooney in the channel.

United need free spirits like Herrera and Depay - in their strongest positions - yet Van Gaal regards them as tactical anarchists. On the flank, Depay is the slick and feared lone gunman in a Mexican stand-off, whereas against Tottenham he was outgunned and ambushed. Van Gaal need only look at Rooney, an unfulfilled talent who suffered at a similar age as Depay from tactical meddling, albeit not to the team's detriment.

When Antonio Valencia signed a new three-year contract in 2014 it was apparent Van Gaal had spent a while away from club football and that was evident again on Saturday. A 4-2-3-1 set-up has attacking merits but under Van Gaal it is pedestrian, pragmatic and, at times, his management feels out of date.

Ferguson salvaged 89-90 in the FA Cup and Van Gaal might have to do likewise.