Valencia hold Manchester United in Old Trafford stalemate

It’s not yet a crisis, but it’s certainly no drama, either. Dramas are exciting. Watching Manchester United trying to rediscover their wining ways isn't. Not that they aren't trying. More that they a little lost. Timid when they should be bold, cautious when they should be cavalier. A little bland, a little blah.

They laboured against Valencia, plodded in parts, and only really got going late in the game, when the prospect of a goalless home draw undoing so much good work in Switzerland last month became apparent. Having opened Group H with an emphatic win against Young Boys, this was an excellent chance to build. Instead it became another exercise in ineffectuality.

United have now played their last four games in three competitions and failed to win in any of them: a draw and a defeat in the Premier League against Wolves and West Ham, a Carabao Cup exit against Derby and now this. It wasn't the worst, but nor was it the United the locals have been waiting for.