13
- First halves United have failed to score in at Old Trafford this season
A quite staggering statistic that gets more absurd with every dull opening 45 minutes that passes under Van Gaal's management. Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, CSKA Moscow, West Brom, PSV Eindhoven, West Ham, Norwich, Chelsea, Swansea, Sheffield United and now Southampton have all emerged unscathed from the first 45 minutes in all competitions.
1
- Goals scored by United players in the first half of a home Premier League game in 2015/16
Credit, of sorts, to Memphis Depay, who netted in the 45th minute against Sunderland on 26 September. A 22nd-minute Kyle Walker own goal in the opening game of the season against Tottenham was one of just three goals scored by any team in the first half at Old Trafford this season - a quite appalling strike rate for fans starved of any sort of entertainment.
1.22
- Goals per game is United's worst average ratio in the Premier League era
For a club synonymous with free-flowing, attacking football, Van Gaal's current stodgy gameplan is bordering on heresy. To put their current miserable return in context, United supporters saw their side score an average of 2.55 goals per game in the 1999/00 season, when the club were reigning European champions and runaway Premier League winners.
35
- Shots United have had shots on target at home this season
That is the lowest total for any club, not just in the Premier League but also the entire Football League. Not only are United not scoring, they're not getting into any sort of position to score or even shoot at goal. And on their own turf too.
49.2%
- Van Gaal has the worst win percentage of any United boss in the Premier League era
The full list makes for grim reading for Van Gaal:
Ferguson: 65.2 per cent over 810 games.
Moyes: 50 per cent over 34 games.
Ryan Giggs: 50 per cent over four games (interim appointment).
Van Gaal: 49.2 per cent over 61 games.
28
- United have scored fewer goals at this stage only eight times in 138 years
Across the club's entire storied history, in only eight seasons have United scored fewer goals after 23 matches than the total managed so far:
1973/74 - 20
1972/73 - 21
1893/94 - 24
1906/07 - 24
1921/22 - 25
1968/69 - 26
1930/31 - 27
1989/90 - 27
1970/71 & 2015/16 - 28
6
- Total goals by Wayne Rooney, United's top Premier League goalscorer this season
Of United's rivals for a Champions League spot, Jamie Vardy is the leading scorer for table-topping Leicester City with 16 goals; Sergio Aguero has 12 for Manchester CIty despite struggling for large parts of the season with injury; Olivier Giroud also has 12 for Arsenal; and Harry Kane has netted 13 times for Tottenham, who have a five-point lead over United in fourth place.
8
- Games in which United have failed to score this season
Newcastle, Arsenal, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Stoke City, Chelsea, Southampton. United have failed to score against them all. With 15 games still to go, this is already United's worst number of blank scoresheets in the Premier League era.
Throw in another two 'nils' against Middlesbrough in the Capital One Cup and PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and that makes 10 goalless games in 34.
27
- Years since United had lost at home against Southampton
But then Van Gaal came along, and the club have lost the fixture twice in succession. Manchester United 0-1 Southampton is the only scoreline the Dutchman has managed, in two attempts, against the Saints at Old Trafford. The last time Southampton won back to back games there was in 1969 - 47 years ago.
), the chance of achieving even that minimum target will be lost, (along with Guardiola), within the course of the next three games, unless VERY drastic but realistic changes are made IMMEDIATELY/FORTHWITH/ or, at the very least, NOW !
