Van Gaal looks for leaders as empire crumbles around him

Burnley were on the attack and they may have lost their shape which they had held so well for most of the game. With that in mind, Wayne Rooney sprinted to the ball and tried to take a quick free-kick as his side searched for their first win of the season.

Rooney stood over the ball and looked forward but Robin Van Persie had his back to him. He scanned the midfield but he couldn't find a player who shared this sense of urgency. Instead Rooney walked away from the ball and United were left to embark on another pedestrian passage of play in another pedestrian performance.

When it was put to Louis Van Gaal afterwards that, despite the presence of a number of world-class players, this wasn't a world-class team, United's manager wasn't going to do anything but agree.

"At this moment it is certainly not but we have to wait and believe that it will happen. Every word that a manager says at this point when you have two points out of nine is a word too much."

The number of world-class players in the side should also be a matter of debate. Van Persie is still searching for fitness, Rooney was committed and showed some good touches without ever being devastating and Di Maria, despite being United's best player, hadn't overly excited Van Gaal on his debut.

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"It was not the world-class player we have seen in Madrid but you cannot expect that because he had to adapt to the English culture and the English way of playing."

Di Maria developed a quick understanding with his new team-mates, quickly understanding that some of them aren't very good.

If Van Gaal was comically unimpressed by Di Maria, his views on Juan Mata went unrecorded.

Mata was the club's record signing last January but again he struggled to make any impression, slipping at the end of United's most exciting move which had been started by Di Maria in his own half and ended with him crossing for Mata, who slipped as the ball came to him.

If this was a low point, in general play Mata drifted in and out of the game before he came off with an injury four minutes from the end.

Van Gaal confirmed that Daley Blind will be taking a medical at United but the club's approach to recruitment remains curious and for all the manager's talk of philosophy, the player who will shape his team on the pitch hasn't been signed.

Before Arsene Wenger arrived in England, Patrick Vieira was already making an impression on the field. Ander Herrera could be that man for Van Gaal but United still need a player who will lead this team.

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Not for the first time, a comparison was made with Moyes

Instead United have stumbled into the last days of the transfer window with the poise and precision of a man lurching out of a pub at closing time screaming, "Who wants some?"

When Ron Atkinson was embarking on one spree during his time at Old Trafford, the joke went that he was trying to sign Michel Platini in case United got a free-kick on the edge of the box. United's current strategy seems equally random, although the arrival of Blind may be a sign of things to come.

As it is, Van Gaal is a manager with legacy issues as he tries to find a way of fitting Mata, Rooney and the other under-performing players into one side. "You will see," he said when asked if United would improve, and it was uttered with conviction, not hope.

Van Gaal remains United's best hope. When it was put to him that United were now acquiring plenty of left-footed defenders, he replied that "it is very, very smart of the manager I think". Not for the first time, a comparison was made with David Moyes, who would not have had the confidence to crack wise if his side had finished scoreless against a promoted side which didn't have a point.

Burnley had their opportunities, particularly in the first half and particularly down the United left, where Tyler Blackett struggled as he demonstrated many elegant ways of losing the ball. He was also turned too easily by Scott Arfield, who went on to dance past Fletcher before Phil Jones deflected his shot wide. David Jones had hit the bar with a free-kick early on but understandably Burnley became more concerned about ensuring a point as the game went on.

United could have had two penalties and probably would have been awarded one if the man being fouled had been anyone other than Ashley Young. Rooney should have scored with a header and Van Persie had a shot cleared off the line but there was no momentum, only an absence of the intangible thing that Van Gaal must restore if United are to be great again.

"You've only come to see United," the away fans taunted. United's visit was big news, police leave was cancelled and as Alex Ferguson made his way into the Bob Lord stand, now renamed the Totally Wicked Bob Lord stand after what one imagines was a long campaign, United and Burnley fans scrambled to shake his hand.

You've only come to see United, they chanted again, and it may have been true for some in the packed press box. United's story will always be compelling but right now people come to see them for the same reason they visit ancient ruins: to look in awe at how great an empire can be and to marvel at how quickly it can fall.