It may be a tad dull but new Man United way may have silver lining

Manchester United fans are struggling to decide whether their rose-tinted glass is half empty or half full; Louis van Gaal’s team may be more snorey-snorey than glory-glory at the moment but it is well-placed in the Premier League and Champions League, defensively sound, clearly evolving and still in with a chance of silverware in 2016.

Wayne Rooney’s late goal against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday has left the Stretford End with a conundrum ahead of Saturday’s game against West Brom. There remains a gut feeling Van Gaal’s side is a million miles away from the United teams of the past — the boos that greeted the substitution of Anthony Martial at Old Trafford confirm that — but does the evidence support it?

After 11 games, United are fourth in the Premier League, top of their Champions League group and unbeaten in six games (in fact they have lost only one in the last 10 if you don’t include a penalty shoot-out defeat to Middlesbrough in the Capital One Cup). They have also conceded only 13 goals in 19 matches since August and only eight in the Premier League; not exactly the kind of statistics you associate with a crisis. In fact, in 2012-13, when United last won the title, they had let in 17 goals by this stage of the campaign.