3 consecutive losses for the first time since 2001 for Manchester United. Something must be the cause.
Harry Robinson looks at four strange decisions from Louis van Gaal in Saturday evening's 1-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion.
Dropping Robin van Persie into a deeper role
After an electric first half from the Dutchman, Louis van Gaal decided to drop him into a deeper role for the second half. It looked like an odd decision at the time. It was proved so.
His first half showed his incredible movement and anticipation, he made five shots and looked sharp having scored twice for the u21 side last Monday.
Yet van Gaal pulled him back towards the halfway line, where one of the best strikers in the last decade should not be. Marouane Fellaini replaced him up front which doesn't sound like traditional Manchester United values.
His second half stats look just as good as his first, yet delving further into them you realise that most of the shots he made - another five - came close to each other and came from a far distance. 4 of his 5 second half shots came from outside the box.
Not starting Angel Di Maria
After two losses in a row with four goals conceded and none scored, you'd think something would have to change for Manchester United.
Yet van Gaal chose to start a line-up with a single change, van Persie for Luke Shaw due to injury.
Di Maria looked like a £1 million player for a promoted team from the Championship in his 30 minute appearance. However, with a start for the Argentine, you would expect him to settle into the game quicker and should he have failed to do so - a half time substitute is an easy fix.
Ashley Young looked good on the ball but with the opportunity to put in a well delivered cross he failed on most occasions.
An easy option would be to drop Fellaini to the bench, as he made little impact in the first half, and move Mata in to midfield to accommodate Di Maria on the right or left flank.
Moving Marouane Fellaini up front
Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie are two of the best strikers in Premier League history - that is not an overstatement. Yet instead of the pair terrorising the compact West Brom defence, Fellaini was the man to control the long balls.
That change happened at around 60 minutes, when United didn't need to panic as they had more than half an hour to equalise or even take the lead.
It has been seen many times this season, van Gaal resorting to long ball football. It work against West Ham as they grabbed a late equaliser, yet at 60 minutes it seems a waste of the talent United had on the pitch in van Persie, Mata, Di Maria, Rooney and Herrera - who do not play long ball football.
Starting Ander Herrera in defensive midfield
Herrera reveled in a free attacking role as he returned the first team after weeks out of the side. His United career got off to a very slow start but in a fantastic turn of form he was awarded Manchester United April Player of the Month.
To play an attacking midfielder cum natural midfielder in defensive midfield is what would be classed as a 'dodgy' decision from van Gaal.
Excuses are easy to make with Michael Carrick being but it was clear from the start that although Herrera didn't play badly in a defensive role he didn't have the impact he usually has or Carrick usually has.
Sorting out the situation could have been done easily. Despite Luke Shaw being injured, Daley Blind could have started as the defensive midfielder with Ashley Young as an attacking left-back, as he was moved later on in the game. Di Maria could have shifted into Young's starting position, as he also did in later on in the game.
Blind still fails to match the stunning ability of Carrick's to dictate the tempo of the entire game. But as a natural defensive midfielder he could have settled the game down and played without the instinct to go forward as Herrera did numerous times before dropping back.