Rooney’s no threat to rivals stuck in midfield

1 WHY ARE MANCHESTER UNITED SO DULL TO WATCH?

JAMIE REDKNAPP: When you played against United at their peak under Sir Alex Ferguson there was so much freedom in their movement. Now they look rigid, with too much structure. Football is sometimes about taking a risk. They have so much talent in their team and it is a waste. People speak very highly of Louis van Gaal and his attention to detail but the players look confused.

MARTIN KEOWN: They don’t move the ball quickly enough. When they get possession in midfield they’re not confident going forward and lack pace up front. They don’t dominate games or look convincing. Manchester United used to have an aura about them but the halo is slipping.

2 IS WAYNE ROONEY BEING USED PROPERLY?

KEOWN: In the short term, yes, but not in the long term. Van Gaal is trying to find a long-term plan. He’s trying to build a team and deploy players where he sees them playing in the future. Rooney’s future lies in midfield, certainly, but at the moment he needs to be playing up front. Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao Uj are not working up top together.

REDKNAPP: How would I feel if I was lining up against Rooney in midfield? Delighted. It’s where he can hurt the opposition least. As a defender you want him as far from the goal as possible. So playing him in midfield makes no sense. Most players can ping 30 or 40-yard passes but most can’t do what Rooney does in the opposing box. That’s what he is about.

3 CAN FALCAO’S UNITED CAREER BE SAVED?

REDKNAPP: I don’t think so and it’s a shame. I still believe he is a great player and you don’t want to see him struggle. It reminds me of Fernando Torres and Andriy Shevchenko’s stints at Chelsea.

He doesn’t look like he’s enjoying his football and he doesn’t look like he’s a fan of the manager. Van Gaal might be better off not playing him. Falcao made a terrible footballing decision to go to Monaco, then was unlucky with his cruciate injury.

It is so hard to come back to the top level from an injury like that but there is a fine line between losing your pace and losing your confidence — look how well Torres is now doing at Atletico Madrid.

KEOWN: Falcao could argue he is not getting enough balls into the box. He likes to come off the shoulder of the defender, get in front of people and nick goals at the near post.

4 HOW CAN LOUIS REVIVE DI MARIA AND VAN PERSIE?

KEOWN: Angel di Maria needs to get back to what he was doing when he first joined Manchester United — running with the ball for fun.

At the start he made very good decisions on the ball. But the more he plays the more desperate he looks: he is always shooting from distance. As for Van Persie, is it time for him to play in a deeper role? It’s almost as if his battery has run flat at the moment.

REDKNAPP: I thought Di Maria would rip the league apart but he’s faded. He’s been really poor, especially compared to Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal. He’s been played in too many different positions though and it hasn’t paid off. Van Persie has not been the same since Fergie left.

The only real solution for Van Gaal is to forget about egos and price tags and leave a big name or two on the bench.

5 WHAT HAS BEEN VAN GAAL’S BIGGEST ERROR?

REDKNAPP: Not addressing their defensive weaknesses. David de Gea has kept them in so many matches. United look fearful that they will be punished at the back if they commit too many men forward so they play with no freedom.

In the past they knew they had Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand behind them. But how will we ever find out if Van Gaal is any good? He’ll probably just get another £200million to spend in the summer.

KEOWN: Trying to play Falcao and Van Persie up front together. They don’t work. He needed to pick one or the other and play Rooney alongside them.

6 WILL THEY FINISH IN THE TOP FOUR?

KEOWN: It’s not a given. Tottenham, Liverpool and Southampton are all in the mix and Van Gaal knows the strength of Arsenal’s squad. It’ll be one of the toughest challenges of Van Gaal’s career. They should have the legs. But if your head isn’t right, it doesn’t matter how fresh your legs are.

REDKNAPP: I should be saying an emphatic yes because they have no European football but I’m not so sure. Maybe . . . by the skin of their teeth. They should have been challenging for the title. Can he turn it round? Van Gaal has a long list of problems