Manchester United’s supporters left happy with a point earned through a brilliantly struck late Daley Blind goal, reward for a series of frantic tactical rejigs and a spell of late pressure. Really, though, this was another tortured attacking display in a 1-1 draw against a West Ham team who will be disappointed not to have won, and during which Wayne Rooney in particular was too often found lurking somewhere behind Antonio Valencia, United’s right-back.

What an odd, misaligned thing this Manchester United-in-progress looked in that opening half, a team who, in among the countless tweaks of the last six months, seem to be doing a fair job of camouflaging some enduring strengths. Louis van Gaal may well be a managerial genius. United may even end up clicking triumphantly into gear and – who knows? – even chasing down Manchester City, who are just five points ahead of them in the Premier League.

Rooney in particular still seems ill-used as a right-sided midfielder.

This was another stab at Total Wayne-ball from Van Gaal, with his captain deployed again as a hustling presence in a narrow diamond midfield. It would be a huge overstatement to suggest playing Rooney up front would have made United a coherent team but still this skittish attack has now mustered seven goals in their last six Premier League matches. Meanwhile United’s third highest all-time goalscorer still has not had a shot on target in the Premier League in 2015.

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“Not so many players can easily switch positions but Rooney can, he is multifunctional,” United’s manager had observed in the build-up. And so, once again, multifunctional Wayne patrolled a narrow right flank. Ahead of him Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao played as a heavy-legged front pair and between them Ángel Di María skittered about like a shopping trolley with a broken wheel, doing his best to adapt on the hoof to an all-left-foot No10 role.

For long periods it wasn’t pretty. Rooney’s early touches all came just outside his own penalty area, as often in the first half there were four white-shirted players in more advanced positions than the man with 224 goals in United’s colours.

The Croxteth Cruyff did move further forward late on, before dropping deep towards the end to accommodate Marouane Fellaini. Some time soon we’re going to look up and notice he’s been playing in goal for the last 10 minutes.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal unhappy with 1-1 draw against West Ham United.

As it was, for long periods in that first half Rooney found himself engaged in an ongoing arm wrestle with West Ham’s venerable No4 in the centre circle. From White Pele to diligently man-marking a 32-year-old Kevin Nolan, it has certainly been a career of many turns.

With Mark Noble and Stewart Downing impressive, West Ham broke with purpose through the large open spaces either side of Blind throughout the first half. Meanwhile this 4-3-3-ish United seemed to have no obvious attacking plan, with Di María and Adnan Januzaj both resembling footballers being asked to play the game off the cuff from a standing start. Ahead of them Falcao fulfilled his contractual obligation to stand in or close to the opposition goal. He also wore the correct kit and appropriate footwear.

Three minutes into the second half West Ham took the lead deservedly though a fine finish from Cheikhou Kouyaté. The goal did seem to rouse United, with Rooney taking a more central position and occasionally bursting forward with purpose. Falcao and Van Persie combined to good effect and suddenly there were glimpses of the high-end talent in this team, so much so that Blind’s late equaliser was not entirely unexpected.

What next, then, for new deep Wayne? There are probably two things worth saying here. If Van Gaal really doesn’t want to play Rooney as a centre forward he should probably go all the way and drop him. Ander Herrera hasn’t played as he can, but he is at least a serious long-term prospect as a narrow right-sided midfielder. On the other hand it is hard to imagine Rooney not offering a more purposeful display of Premier League centre-forward play than Falcao here.

Beyond this it is, of course, a very English thing to worry overly about positional certainties. Van Gaal, in his role as post-Total Football innovator, will tell you this is simply what elite-level modern football is now, a game of fluidity and shifting roles. By the same token the idea that Rooney will be fatally confused by all this, forced to relearn how to play up front for England, is absurd.

Experienced international class players adapt and multitask: this is what Van Gaal wants from his team. For all their resilience here United have some way to go on that score. In the meantime a little Rooney-style incision in attack would surely grease the wheels of this evolving machine.