5 reasons why Manchester United are no longer the dominant force they once were

Back in the day, Manchester United ruled the Premier League. They were the quintessential football club not only in England but across the entire continent.

The legendary Sir Alex Ferguson had built a squad that was practically flawless. The team was solid the back, had just the right amount of creativity and explosive power in the midfield and were lethal up front.

And a quick look at the current squad would reveal that it's nothing more than an appalling knock-off of the erstwhile squad. The defence looks shaky and exposed at times, the midfield lacks quality and can't make the ball move effectively, while they are just wasteful in front of the goal.

With conditions this bad, it is easy to agree with all the criticism Jose Mourinho has been facing from the media recently. But as firing two managers previously did not change their fortunes much, it seems obvious that the problem lies somewhere deep within.

Here, we will be taking a look at the 5 reasons why Manchester United's glory days are a thing of the past.

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#5 No defensive partnership at the back

Vidic and Ferdinand protected the Manchester United goal for 8 seasons.

One of the main reasons for the success of a team is the stability of the squad. If the players are comfortable in their positions, amazing things can happen.

As shown by the power-duo of Ferdinand and Vidic, a better understanding of your partner's play-style and covering for each-other can yield dividends. They were one of the most feared defensive duos of the league for the 8 seasons that they played together.

Ever since their departures in 2014, there hasn't been a single world-class centre-back in United's squad let alone a partnership at the centre of their defence.

And the problems with at the back become apparent by the fact that this season, Jose Mourinho has named 4 different centre-backs in the starting XI for 8 league matches and has experimented with different combinations in almost every match.

In a move that reflected Mourinho's desperation, Scott McTominay was utilized as a defender in the 3-1 loss of the Red Devils against struggling West Ham.

Unless they are able to resolve the issue of leaky defence that has let in 14 goals so far, getting back to their glorious ways will always remain a distant dream.

#4 Midfielders do not have a well-defined role

Pogba, Matic and Fellaini can form a solid partnership in the midfield.

Jose Mourinho has made more changes to his midfield than any other position. The biggest problem he is facing is that with quite decent options to choose from, he can't make the right choices as to who he should play and more importantly where.

For the most part of the season so far, no midfielder has been given a fixed position to operate from in the midfield. It has been seen that Mourinho has alternatively used Pogba, Fellaini and Matic in the deep-lying midfielder role.

This uncertainty in the position creates confusion among players as to what exactly is expected of them and they are thrown completely off their game.

With new signing Fred struggling to solidify his position in the squad Mourinho has been forced to rely on Mata, Lingard and even McTominay to provide some sort of stability to the midfield.

With no player who can organize and command the midfield efficiently, the chaos in the middle of the pitch will be their downfall.

#3 Too much experimentation with the squad

Mourinho is yet to find the best playing XI of Manchester United so far.

Mourinho has been experimenting a bit too much with different lineups and different starting XI this season. He has tried out his preferred 4-3-3 formation, a 5-3-2 formation and a bizarre 3-5-1-1 formation so far.

Just take a look at the players he lined-up against Tottenham, we see that he had made 6 changes to the squad. And again coming into this weekend he made 3 changes against Newcastle and constant change has been the trend so far this season for the Red Devils.

This is a clear deviation from the past under Ferguson, who virtually played with the same starting XI unless forced by an injury. This show of confidence in players inspired them to give their best on the pitch.

Mourinho is not doing any favours to the players by making changes so frequently. It makes players more concerned about their spot in the starting lineup than their performance on the pitch.

#2 Lack of quality academy players

McTominay playing for Manchester United first-team.

One of the glaring shortcomings of Manchester United has been the paucity of quality players coming up through its youth teams.

It has one of the biggest youth academies in England, but unfortunately, only a few of these graduates actually get to play in the top-flight. Well, Mourinho's tactics might be partially at blame here, but clearly if youth players can't be converted to future first team starters, it is time to look into the matter.

With the best of the academy graduates Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford only managing to score 1 goal between them, only a complete overhaul of youth academy can change the prospects of future graduates and the club.

#1 Disastrous transfer windows one after the other

Fred celebrates his maiden Premier League goal with Lukaku.

The one thing that everyone can agree upon is that Manchester United are one of the biggest spenders of the European teams and that they are totally imprudent in the way they splash the cash.

There is no clear-cut transfer strategy for the Red Devils. Every summer all they do is make one big signing and one or two other signings at exorbitant prices just to make a statement.

It might work for the brand, but such a misguided transfer policy has its own consequences. Most of the big money moves were disastrous and players like Di Maria, Depay, Mkhitaryan have already left the club and players like Lindelof, Herrera and recent signing Fred find themselves struggling to secure a place in regular first-team football.

Money can only do so much. The sooner they realize the better.