On Sunday afternoon, Manchester United took on Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in a vital clash in the race for the top 4 and a Champions League place. I think it is fair to say, the Reds blew Spurs away.
In the first half of the game at Old Trafford, United scored 3 very well taken goals, with Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney scoring to race the Reds into a 3-0 half-time lead. A lead which they never looked like they were going to give away.
The 4-3-3 system which Louis Van Gaal deployed, with Jones and Smalling at centre back and the ever versatile Daley Blind at left back, performed fantastically as the tempo was consistently high, as was the pressure off of the ball. Add to that the clinical nature of players like Young, Mata, Herrera, Fellaini, Rooney and the magnificent Carrick, and it is believed by many, including Gary Neville, that United have finally found the right system.
However, there is a bit of a problem for Louis Van Gaal as a player that is not included in the list above is record buy Angel Di Maria, a man who has struggled terribly since his explosive start to the season.
With the chemistry shown by Mata, Herrera and Rooney going forward, as well as the excellent Ashley Young providing service FOR those players, and it may be that Di Maria's place in the team is under threat, something the former Real Madrid titan must not have expected when he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer.
However, despite the lofty £59.7 million price tag, Di Maria is not guaranteed a place in the starting XI, which means that his red card against Arsenal in the FA Cup may prove more costly than he ever imagined.
One will have to wait for United's games to come, including Liverpool at Anfield next weekend, to fully conclude whether or not the current system and personnel is the way to go. If their performance against Spurs proves to be a once off, then Di Maria may find his place in the XI reinstated once he returns. On the other hand, if United continue in the same vein as they did against Spurs and achieve the wins, then the Argentine superstar may find himself out the door of Old Trafford a lot sooner than anybody else would have thought when he originally signed.