David De Gea aside, Manchester United’s failings show Louis van Gaal needs to spend wisely

Richard Jolly explains why Manchester United must produce better results in the transfer market to challenge for top honours again.

Manchester United players applaud the crowd after their final home match of the season. Clive Rose / Getty

Louis van Gaal spent part of his Sunday marvelling at the efforts of one part of the Manchester United family. He was not referring to his players. "It is amazing when you are fourth and the fans are clapping for so long," said the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager. "I never had that experience at my other clubs."
Perhaps it highlighted the way expectations were lowered during the misery of David Moyes's reign. United supporters have become grateful for small mercies. It also shows the way loyalty has become a leitmotif.
Consider the reception afforded to Radamel Falcao who, when substituted against Arsenal on Sunday, was treated like a hero, not one of the worst signings in United's history.
The Colombian is emblematic of their season. United have rarely exhibited the anticipated potency and have often been better off when the majority of their famous five of Falcao, Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have not been on the pitch.
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Yet Falcao's failings have not cost United: they have realised their goal of a top-four finish. Much of the £152 million (Dh875.8m) United paid out last summer was misspent, but clubs with such financial muscle tend to realise some of their ambitions.
Yet it is significant that only four United players can claim with absolute certainty that they have enjoyed good years: David de Gea, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini. Even then, the latter pair are essentially limited players who have overachieved, rather than potential cornerstones of a formidable side. Carrick, the vice captain, has been limited to 16 league starts, when United have won 12 times. (The fact they have tasted victory only eight times in the other 21 matches illustrates his importance.)
That leaves the outstanding De Gea. Had they possessed even an average top-flight goalkeeper, instead of the brilliant Spaniard, United might have flanked eighth-placed Swansea in the table.
His consistency has been a rarity. Mata and Ander Herrera have been influential scorers of late but spent long periods out of the side. Rooney re-established himself as the main striker, but only after his form deteriorated in midfield, and this has been the least prolific of his 11 seasons at Old Trafford.
Chris Smalling earned a new contract and, in others' absence, the captaincy on Sunday, but he plumbed depths at times. Antonio Valencia was often a reliable stand-in right-back but was culpable for their FA Cup elimination.
When Van Persie endured much his poorest year at United and Di Maria, the most expensive player in the history of English football, lost his place in the team, when Adnan Januzaj faded from sight and when two summer signings who had excelled in the World Cup, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind, looked squad players but no more, it poses the question if United can take encouragement from the untapped potential in their camp or should be concerned about the pattern of underachievement in a mismatched group.
Certainly, there is a case for arguing that United are finishing fourth by default, given the scale of Liverpool's regression. While they went from first to seventh in the space of 12 months and have made half of the return journey in a further year, the second part will be far more difficult. Apart from the trinity of terrific displays against Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City, they have not looked like champions in waiting.
Now they are likely to lose their one player who belongs in the side of the season. It was hard to escape the feeling that Sunday was De Gea's Old Trafford farewell. Assuming United can navigate a two-legged qualifier in August, the goalkeeper's legacy will be Champions League football.
Their first mission will be accomplished. Yet that is the comparatively easy part for a club of United's resources. If they are to challenge again, they have to spend rather more wisely in 2015 than they did in 2014.
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