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If ever there is a place where it is impossible to lift the gloom it is Stoke.

Dark and dank, heading towards the Britannia is like approaching the scene of a murder in a Nordic noir, and it threatened to get ugly for Louis van Gaal and Manchester United on Boxing Day.

The mood was morose among the players at full-time as a handful of journalists waited patiently in the mixed zone. Almost every United player walked past stoically, though none looked as ashen-faced as Ander Herrera. Arguably the worst performer at Stoke, he offered a sorrowful shake of the head and a wave that was as half-heartedly apologetic as Van Gaal's towards the United supporters inside the ground.

Others, such as Memphis and Marouane Fellaini, took the shortcut to the team bus, and the look etched on some United players' faces was unmistakable. It was fear.

It had finally dawned on them it was not just their manager's United career that was on the line. The most successful United pass this week was the buck Van Gaal played to his players. His pantomime act at Carrington on Wednesday was an attempt to remind fickle fans the manager is not solely culpable, even if he has spent £250m.

Herrera, marginalised by Van Gaal, could not blame his manager's inexplicable decision to play him as a holding midfielder against Stoke. Herrera was positioned in a deep-lying role - where he floundered against Club Brugge - but ventured into the opponent's third often enough and was wasteful with the ball. When his number flashed up to announce his substitution, Herrera's sprint was fuelled by embarrassment.

His fortune might change if Pep Guardiola is the next manager, but that is about as likely as Van Gaal addressing United supporters at a May victory rally in Albert Square. Whoever the next United manager is, some players' futures lie away from M16.

United have one undisputed world-class player in David de Gea and two potential eminent footballers in the injured Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial. Chris Smalling has established himself as one of the most reliable centre-backs in Europe, Herrera has obvious promise and Morgan Schneiderlin should be one of the first names on the teamsheet.

READ MORE: One Van Gaal mistake cost United at Stoke

What was disconcerting at Stoke was, as one journalist opined in the press box, the hosts' front four was probably superior than United's. The bewitching Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan's pace would enhance United's attack, while Marko Arnautovic has recently shown Juan Mata how to perform productively as a maverick.

The lack of aggression at Stoke was startling. Phil Jones briefly lost his rag with Ashley Young, flailing his arms, but no one had the intensity to give Young a rollocking. Against red-and-white striped opponents in 2002, Roy Keane was so irate at Phil Neville's defending he literally shoved him at Sunderland.

Two-nil down at half-time, a tepid second-half performance, and with a grim reaper in the crowd, the similarities with Moyes' last sorry stand at Everton were eerie. At Goodison, Moyes started Nani - a player he had already decided to sell - in a shop window tactic that backfired, and after the Stoke display there might not be many takers for some of the players who have downed tools under Van Gaal.

Memphis, hooked at half-time for the third time this season, was unfairly scapegoated. Unaccustomed to mucking in, Daley Blind was having to direct him defensively in the opening stages before he executed his awful tribute to Robin van Persie's World Cup header against Spain.

It is as much of a compliment as congratulating on someone being taller than Danny DeVito, but Memphis was one of the more threatening attackers in a United shirt at Stoke. Young, whose positioning was amateurish at right-back, and the anonymous Mata were fortunate to last the 90 minutes.

Memphis, however, might not last long if Jose Mourinho overcomes some United figures' aversion to his methods and replaces Van Gaal. Mourinho is more reactive and ruthless with his substitutions than Van Gaal and became so tired of Eden Hazard's indiscipline he dropped him at Chelsea 'because we are conceding lots of goals'. Hazard is the reigning PFA Player of the Year.

Irrespective of his history with Mourinho, Mata is in danger of being filed in the pantheon of Juan Sebastian Veron and Angel di Maria. An undeniably gifted footballer who has provided United supporters with moments of genius, like Patrick Bateman, he wants to fit in but can't. Marcos Rojo has tested Van Gaal's temper and Mourinho has a shorter fuse.

Higher up the order, Wayne Rooney needs replacing and Mourinho's past interest in him at Real Madrid and Chelsea is unlikely to be as intense if he manages him at United. Vice-captain Michael Carrick is out of contract in the summer and looks like a 34-year-old footballer these days. So pivotal in Van Gaal's maiden season that United's form hinged on his fitness, Carrick's annual 'slow start' - as Sir Alex Ferguson warned - has manifested into a slump reminiscent of his forlorn campaign under David Moyes.

Daley Blind, an elegant footballer, is slow, slight and has benefited from something bordering on nepotism under Van Gaal. The United manager has not used Marouane Fellaini effectively this season but the Belgian is destined to leave United without endearing himself to Reds. Phil Jones is reliably unreliable. Sergio Romero is a dud.

On the fringes, Paddy McNair's outing at Bournemouth suggested his 'McMare' nickname is befitting of recent performances. Mourinho is possibly the one manager Victor Valdes does not want to see arrive at United.

Some United players' futures are as grim as a Scandinavian drama.