Lack of cutting edge, bizarre substitutions leave Manchester United way off title pace

Too many safety-first passes.

It almost looked as if Manchester United would dodge a bullet again. Insipid for long periods of their Champions League playoff against Club Brugge, United were rescued by a sublime Memphis cross and Marouane Fellaini doing what he does best. Going into injury time, this afternoon, United needed another late goal. Chris Smalling - their best goalscoring threat all day - hit the post with a header from a corner-kick before Newcastle United broke and were agonisingly close to stealing it themselves. In the final 10 minutes, Morgan Schneiderlin felt heat from the home fans as he passed sideways and backwards, rather than seeking forward runs. It is the French midfielder's default mode. Unfortunately, it was United's default mode all afternoon. [caption id="attachment_36823" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Luke Shaw was United's best player on show.[/caption] The hosts tore into a poor Newcastle side in the opening quarter and should have been 2-0 up. Wayne Rooney, Smalling and Memphis went close and Toon looked there for the taking. However, one moment, 12 minutes in, summed up United's lack of cutting edge. They had a throw-in near Newcastle's right-hand corner flag. 60 seconds and 12 United touches later, the ball was back with Darmian. Back, back, back, sidewards, back... you get the picture. The longer Newcastle held out, the more they grew in confidence. They had the best chance of the first half when Alex Mitrovic rattled the United crossbar with a header. Sergio Romero was airborne but he was nowhere near. United were listless after the break and van Gaal tried to remedy that by taking Bastian Schweinsteiger off and bringing Michael Carrick on. With the home side needing an incision of urgency, Ander Herrara would have been a better choice. Was there really a need for Carrick and Schneiderlin on against a side that had no real attacking intentions. Van Gaal's other two substitutions were a mixed bag. Javier Hernandez replaced the woefully slothful Januzaj but that move saw Rooney drop back in search of the ball. Why? Stay up front and drag the defenders away. [Maybe his confidence is shot] Antonio Valencia came on for Matteo Darmian, who was constantly bombing forward. The idea was surely to get him out wide and getting crosses in. He had a great chance to score - crashing a breaking ball off Fabricio Coloccini's back - but Ashley Young or Herrera might have served better. Overall, United were far, far too slow. During a week that van Gaal suggested the club did not need Pedro, it was hard not to think of the Barcelona man slicing Newcastle down the left rather than Juan Mata cutting into midfield traffic. Pace and the ability to counter-attack and beat men is what is needed to win the Premier League. United have lots of players comfortable on the ball. Too comfortable, for far too long. They top the Premier League table, but not for long.