Angel Di Maria's Manchester United slump not surprising - Lionel Messi would struggle under Louis

The problem is maybe what Di Maria is being asked to do by Louis van Gaal. You can't go from being in a World Cup final and being one of the best players in the Champions League final to being poor for Manchester United.

You don't become a bad player overnight. It is the same situation with Radamel Falcao. There are a lot of questions to be asked: why is their form dipping, and not getting back to what it was before?

Maybe they are being asked to do different things that are foreign to them. When you go out to buy someone, you go out to buy what they have been delivering, not because you suddenly want to change them.

Di Maria has lost form, Falcao has lost form. Everyone is trying to say Falcao hasn't recovered from his knee injury. We don't know if he has or not. He is being asked to operate like an old-fashioned centre forward and is trying to collect the ball most times on his Adam's apple.

When the ball eventually comes into him, United have had the ball at the back for 20 passes so the other team drops off and Falcao then gets kicked to death when he gets it.

Di Maria is the same. He is struggling to play in the system because it is all very rigid and unattractive under LVG.

Is Van Gaal playing him with the right players? His better games have come when he is playing alongside Ander Herrera and Juan Mata in the same side. When you are playing in a midfield that might have Marouane Fellaini and Wayne Rooney in there too, I don't think it really helps Di Maria.

The slower the ball the moves, there is no space for Di Maria. There is no intensity to United's game. If Lionel Messi was to play in that United team, he would struggle for the simple reason that by the time he gets the ball, three players would be on him and would knock him off the ball too.

There is a big problem there. The intensity of United's play has dropped to maybe 50 percent of what it was two or three years ago. They are far too slow, and predictable.

It might have even dropped from when I was playing because back then it was all about the pace and power of the player. In the modern game, it is more about the speed of the pass. I don't know what Van Gaal is looking for. I think if you asked a lot of United fans, they'd make the same point.

I do wonder where United are going to finish in the table. I thought they would have been certain to finish in the top four under Van Gaal, but now you look at Liverpool and Arsenal, and you do worry for United. You wouldn't bet against Arsenal making it for an 18th straight year. There is no fluency in United's play, and you wonder how many United players are comfortable in that side.

United don't have continuity. I can't say anything positive about United at this moment in time.

As a club, brand and business, United really need to qualify for the Champions League. Where does Van Gaal go from there? How many players want to play for Van Gaal now?

The next stage for United is competing for the Premier League next season. United have to try to bring a style back to the club. The fans want entertainment. At this moment in time, people are talking about how poor United are. The football isn't going forward. It slow and ponderous. Passing is not productive. It is passing for the sake of passing.

United simply have to play Juan Mata more. Wayne Rooney has to play up front. There is no sense in playing Rooney in midfield because he can't compete with a David Silva or play ahead of a Herrera in that position. Rooney is very slow and very British on the ball. He can't move it quickly enough from midfield.

There is no clear method to United's style. Rooney can't play the killer pass in the final third. It means United are struggling to beat teams like West Ham, who should have taken six points off them this season.

You are worried if you are a United fan. And you should be. Arsenal and Liverpool are in better form, have confidence and crucially have momentum. United don't have any of these.