Louis van Gaal out? The case against LVG gains momentum

The problem now is not just about style - now there is substance to United's woes as they stagger towards a group stage exit.

Van Gaal started the night knowing two wins in four days would put his side into the Champions League last 16 and send them top of the Premier League.

One goalless draw later, and his position is under serious question.

Van Gaal has isolated himself from criticism by rather cleverly setting the parameters of his own reign. By giving himself three years to win the league and pegging his team's progress against David Moyes, last season's expensively-acquired fourth-place finish qualified as a success.

This season, despite palpable unease about United's lack of verve, only Leicester City stand between him and the top of the table. Even if the eyes conclude that Van Gaal's United are desperately inadequate, the table suggests otherwise. Where the David Moyes era was patently calamitous, Van Gaal's reign has been harder to pick apart.

Which is why last night's result was so damaging - United's familiar failings conspiring in their downfall as they sleepwalked towards the Champions League exit. A lack of creativity, tempo, urgency and above all character.

The problem is not that Van Gaal's team play defensive football - Jose Mourinho, Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce's teams do it with a clear sense of purpose and identity. United still look like a bunch of individuals chucked onto the pitch with no real idea how they might score a goal.

Aimless possession is not part of the Van Gaal philosophy - just think of the Dutch World Cup side who mixed their technical skill with a thrilling directness. It is mystifying that, given a season and a half and £250m of new players, he has not managed anything remotely similar at Old Trafford.

Five Live commentator Alan Green said Wayne Rooney looked "cream crackered" last night as a result of his recent illness - kudos to Green if he perceived any difference from the norm. Of course Rooney is knackered, he's been playing football for 15 years with hardly a break, racking up 683 senior competitive matches for club and country. That's an awful lot of miles on the clock (Jamie Vardy, nearly 29, has played just 124 games at Championship level or higher).

Rooney's form is not coming back. It's not really his fault, but it's astonishing that Van Gaal cannot or will not see it.

Jesse Lingard had only one Premier League appearance before this season - now he is keeping Juan Mata out of the team. It's hardly surprising he showed a lack of composure. And Memphis Depay and Anthony Martial's youthful exuberance has gone missing in action. It's just so sterile.

Alex Ferguson's United perpetrated some truly dire group stage campaigns, but they always seemed to know when to lift the pace, when to go for the jugular - those moments late in games when, roared on by an Old Trafford crowd that not only hoped for but expected a late winner, United would raise their game and prevail almost through willpower alone.

Ironically, United managed their first 'Fergie Time' win under Van Gaal at Watford on Saturday - but any prospect of a rousing finish was depressingly absent against PSV. If United fail to beat Wolfsburg in Germany and exit the competition with two wins in six games, they will deserve it.

That alone will not be enough to unseat Van Gaal – but say he does go, what then? Does Ryan Giggs offer a convincing solution? We don’t know, for the simple reason that he has exactly four games of managerial experience under his belt.

Even Pep Guardiola – the best-case scenario for any ‘stick the club legend in’ punt - had his spell at Barcelona B. All we know about Giggs is that he has worked on the coaching staffs of Moyes and Van Gaal, and did OK in last season’s odd post-Moyes interregnum.

Might he be an inspired choice? Maybe. But it would probably an idea to try and find out before installing him to the biggest job in English football.