LVG anxiously waits for window to open

The January transfer window is only 59 days away; and although Louis van Gaal must take some comfort from his team’s battling display with only 10 men at the Etihad, that is probably the only piece of good news for Manchester United fans as they contemplate a frustrating start to another difficult season.

It seems almost ironic to suggest a club that already has the most expensive squad in the Premier League — currently valued at €510m — needs to spend more to save their campaign, but that is the situation United find themselves in after a 1-0 defeat in the Manchester derby in which Chris Smalling was sent off and Marcos Rojo carried off.

United now have their lowest points total after 10 games since 1986, the year when Alex Ferguson was brought in to save the club; and they sit in ninth place in the Premier League with 13 points — a long way adrift of leaders Chelsea, who have 26.

So although many United supporters may have left the Etihad at least encouraged by their team’s fighting display which left nervy City hanging on for the last 15 minutes, the big picture is less encouraging for the men in red.

A series of injuries, particularly in a defence which has not been sufficiently strengthened over the summer, has resulted in a growing sense of crisis, after Rojo was carried off with a shoulder injury at the Etihad and Smalling sent off for two needless bookings.

When you consider United have already used 10 different combinations in central defence this season — and now face another dilemma over who to select next weekend against Crystal Palace or against Arsenal at the Emirates on November 22 — then the case for spending again in January is increasingly convincing.

Alarmingly United have already used 31 different players this season — partly because of injuries and partly as a result of Van Gaal searching for the right combinations — and they are really no nearer to knowing their first choice 11 than when the Dutchman first arrived at Old Trafford in July.

In the club’s glory days, despite Alex Ferguson’s tactic of slightly altering his team each week (he once went 99 games without naming exactly the same side) you still instinctively knew the bulk of his chosen ones for really big matches. But Van Gaal, four months after arriving at Old Trafford, has absolutely no idea about his perfect selection.

This time he opted to wedge fit-again Wayne Rooney into midfield rather than up front, but it was in defence where the problems looked most acute. In fact United ended this match with a winger (Antonio Valencia) at right-back, a midfielder returning from long-term injury at centre-half (Michael Carrick), a rookie beside him (Paddy McNair) and a young man who has yet to prove himself in a United shirt at left-back (Luke Shaw). All this against a City side with some of the most potent attacking players in the world.

So it was no surprise to see Sergio Aguero take advantage with a wonderfully-taken winning goal, leaving McNair in his wake. In fact, if referee Michael Oliver had been braver and given City the two penalties they deserved, the victory could have been more convincing despite United’s spirited fightback in the latter stages.