5 problems Manchester United need to address

It hasn't been a terrible season for Manchester United. They are still just about clinging onto second in the league, and have a decent shot at both the FA Cup and the Champions League. That said, Manchester United are supposed to be the biggest team in the world and they haven't been playing anywhere near the level they should be at.

If United want to have any chance of challenging their noisy neighbours sometime soon, or even thwart their closest rival Liverpool's attempt to steal second position from under their noses, they are going to need to address these five problems:

#5 Paul Pogba

Pogba's recent performances have not been fitting for a player of his quality

Let's address the elephant in the room first - no matter which way you look at it, Pogba is not currently performing at the level he should be.

This isn't about harping on and on about the £90 million that Manchester United paid for him, which pretty much everyone has been doing and isn't particularly fair. The fact that United spent so much on Pogba is not his fault, and shouldn't be used to put additional pressure on the player or criticise him.

Prior to his red card at Arsenal, Paul Pogba was the absolute driving force of Manchester United and his sending off ruined what had the potential to be a great Manchester derby. His creativity was unmatched and his touches and skills on the ball were immense. He was clearly having fun with the likes of Lukaku on the pitch and it showed in his football.

Paul Pogba is a quality footballer, and when he plays with flair and happiness, United thrive. But the current Pogba is merely a shell of his start to the league - slower, less confident, and having no creativity whatsoever. They desperately need him to find the form he had before his suspension if they are to bag some silverware this season.

#4 Shaky defense

This centre back pairing looked out of their depth against an injury-ridden Crystal Palace side

Now, United's defense is by no means terrible, but at the start of the season they seemed nearly unbeatable at the back.

They started the Premier League with 8 clean sheets in 10 games, and that includes clean sheets against Liverpool and Tottenham. Compare that to their recent form, which includes 5 clean sheets in the last 10 games in the Premier League, with only one coming in their last five matches.

It seems somewhat ridiculous that Manchester United are relying on the likes of Young and Valencia as fullbacks, with both players being 32, while Liverpool are using Robertson and Alexander-Arnold, and City are using Kyle Walker, Danilo, and recently Zinchenko.

Things do seem to be on the up for United though, as star centre back Eric Bailly seems to have recovered from his injury, and Luke Shaw slowly looks ready to be taking Ashley Young's spot.

If Lindelöf can adapt to the premier league style, and Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones can have some long injury free spells, United should be able to sort this problem out with relative ease. Thank god for De Gea.

#3 - An Incompatible Attack

His arrival seemed to be a blessing initially; could it be more of a curse for Manchester United?

At the very start of the season everybody was pointing out the friendship between Lukaku and Pogba and how they could be a very dangerous pairing for other teams in the league, and in the first few games this proved to be true.

Introducing Sánchez to the side in January seemed to be an excellent piece of business by Jose Mourinho, as he managed to trade a player who hadn't been performing for one of the best players in the world.

Unfortunately, something just hasn't clicked, and while Sánchez has been trying very hard to contribute to attacks, the team just doesn't seem to have that close bond they had at the start of the season, and the group of brilliant attacking players is performing far less than the sum of its parts.

Bringing in a new player in January is often difficult, as it doesn't give the manager a chance to reconfigure the team. Martial and Lingard were in great form prior to Sánchez's arrival, but since then Martial has been mostly played on the right, where he seems far less natural, and Lingard hasn't been anywhere near as noticeable (bar his great goal against Chelsea).

With the likes of Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez, Martial, Rashford, Lingard and Mata, United should absolutely be tearing teams apart, but that hasn't been the case. It might just be a case of when rather than if.

#2 Performances Against Big Teams

Manchester United will need to be far more fearless if they wish to be feared

Compare United's performance against City to Liverpool's and the evidence will be damning. José adores parking the bus against the big teams but that approach simply hasn't worked this season. Manchester City have been constantly attacking teams and it's worked out really well for them.

Despite United having the far more defensive performances this season, City have conceded two less goals, which seems absolutely ridiculous given how José sets his team up.

If Manchester City have proven anything this season, it's that the best defense is a good offence and it is the goals that win you games. If United are going to improve under Mourinho, he needs to realize this.

#1 Mentality

Manchester United's winning mentality is imperative to their success for the rest of the season

Despite Manchester United's late comeback against Crystal Palace, there's some truth to this.

A number of times this season, Manchester City have had their backs against the wall and they've dug deep, stuck their heels into the ground and gotten themselves a result. Some people call it lucky, but Manchester City have done it too many times this season for it to be a fluke - and Ferguson's United seemed to do it every other week.

The reason City have been almost unbeatable this season isn't just because of their brilliant football (which is obviously a huge factor), but the way Pep has conditioned them to perform. Had City conceded to Newcastle in the 65th minuted and gone one nil down, there is absolutely no way that was how the match ended.

City's one loss in the Premier League this season involved them coming from 4-1 down to 4-3, and even then the final few moments were nail biting.

While United managed to pull a late one out of the bag against Crystal Palace, one game simply is not enough. They need to play the game with a winning mentality from the moment the whistle is blown till that final three bursts.

No more dodgy first halves, and no more giving up when the team goes a goal or two down. Their comeback performances against Palace and Chelsea were certainly inspiring, and they need to show the attitude they showed in the later parts of these games all the time, if they want a decent Champions League run and to finish second in the Premier League.