No defence for this: Louis van Gaal has left a hole in Manchester United

All the attacking talent in the world can't paper over the fact that Louis van Gaal failed to construct an adequate central defence for Manchester United, writes Richard Jolly.

Louis van Gaal's Manchester United side are 12th in the Premier League table after five matches with five out of a possible 15 points. Darren Staples / Reuters / September 21, 2014

It was a defensive shambles. One of England’s most decorated clubs, one with a great tradition of fine centre-backs, was playing with a damning lack of organisation and communication. Supposed inferiors bested and beat them.

It is Liverpool’s lot in life to be compared with Manchester United. For much of the past two decades, that has brought frustration on Merseyside. Yet this weekend, it may have offered a modicum of compensation. They produced only the second-most-incompetent display of defending from a floundering superpower.

The culprits were familiar. Neither Mamadou Sakho nor Martin Skrtel ought to be good enough for Liverpool. Here is the frightening thought for United: with Phil Jones injured, either would get in their team. With Jonny Evans sidelined, perhaps both would. Because, 20 hours after Liverpool were embarrassed by West Ham, United’s defending was far, far worse in Sunday’s 5-3 loss at Leicester.

Afterwards, Louis van Gaal, with his slightly odd phrasing, impersonal way of distancing himself from responsibility and habit of stating the obvious in the manner of a man delivering great insight, said: “We have too many players who want to seek for the goal.”

In one respect, he is right. United have so many potential scorers that Juan Mata, who had struck eight times in his previous 10 games, was unfairly omitted. A week earlier, Van Gaal had spoken of his ambition that United, who trailed Manchester City by 38 goals last season, would end the season as top scorers. Yet if there is an imbalance in the side, an overload of attackers and a shortage of stoppers, then whose fault is that?

Van Gaal oversaw a summer of unprecedented buying by an English club. United paid out £152 million (Dh912.5m) in transfer and loan fees. Only Real Madrid, in 2009, have spent more in a single transfer window. And yet they ended the summer weaker in a pivotal position than when they began it: centre-back.

Tyler Blackett, who did not impress on loan at Birmingham when they were almost relegated to League One last season, has been ever present. Until Sunday’s red card, the youngster exceeded expectations, but United are starting to bear unwanted similarities with another Real team, when their pursued their “Zidanes y Pavones” policy: Zinedine Zidane, the world’s best player, was one of the attacking galacticos, while the homegrown, substandard Francisco Pavon became the epitome of an underfunded defence. It proved a faulty formula.

Now, minus Jones and (probably) Evans, United are set to face West Ham on Saturday with the appalling Chris Smalling the senior centre-back.

It is a failure of planning, an issue that predated Van Gaal’s arrival. In February, Nemanja Vidic announced he would go. Rio Ferdinand was released in May but his departure had long been expected and his decline signposted.

United wanted Mats Hummels or Thomas Vermaelen. They got neither. They eventually recruited Marcos Rojo but the sense is the former Sporting Lisbon man was not on Van Gaal’s radar before his Netherlands side faced Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals. Maybe Rojo, 24, is being eased into the team but a man touted as a centre-back has operated on the left so far. Factor in the arrival of Luke Shaw and perhaps United have spent £43m on left-backs and nothing on centre-backs.

When United announced their financial results a couple of weeks ago, executive vice chairman Ed Woodward took part in a conference call with Wall Street investors to discuss their £433m annual revenue. Journalists were permitted to listen in and, every time someone from Bank of America inquired about United’s lucrative new kit deal, a colleague wondered out loud: “But why didn’t you buy a centre-back?”

Woodward, though a convenient punching bag, is not the sole culprit, but it is an oversight that could cost the club much of the money he makes with his commercial acumen. They are banking on a top-three finish.

They began the season with a back three but Van Gaal overestimated his players’ ability and the capacity of British footballers to adapt to an unfamiliar system. There proved to be no safety in numbers with an additional central defender and he reverted to a back four which allowed him to accommodate another attack-minded player.

Meanwhile, his defence were overrun by Jamie Vardy, the Leicester striker who was playing non-league football three years ago.

Admittedly, high-scoring games play a prominent part in United folklore. Yet the 5-3 wins against Tottenham in 2001 and Newcastle in 2002, the 8-2 thrashing of Arsenal in 2011 and even the occasional mishap like the 6-3 defeat at Southampton are notable because they were the exception, not the rule. Now the risk is such scores become commonplace and action-packed victories are matched by humiliating setbacks.

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