Is Scholes right? Have Manchester United become Van Galling under King Louis?

United left it quite late against CSKA in their Champions League group game but Wayne Rooney headed home in the 79th minute to ensure his team avoided a fourth successive goalless draw. United dominated possession but struggled to break down CSKA until their skipper struck to draw himself level with Denis Law as the club's second-highest scorer on 237 goals.

His header from Jesse Lingard's cross was United's first goal in 404 minutes - a run that included goalless draws against Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace. Prior to the goal, the Old Trafford crowd were clearly unhappy when Martial was replaced with Marouane Fellaini after 65 minutes.

"I'm not deaf. That's the opinion of the fans, but afterwards they shall not be disappointed," he said. "I'm very happy because I put Rooney again in the striker's position and he scored. I back all my players, not only Wayne Rooney. Wayne Rooney is always centre of attention, I have to answer always about Wayne Rooney and now again.

"Wayne is Wayne, he shall always contribute in a game. It was a fantastic goal. The tackle of Marcos Rojo was fantastic, the pass of Michael Carrick and the cutback of Jesse Lingard. Then the header of Rooney. It was fantastic. I'm very happy about the performance of my players, also about the result and also the fact we are top of the group."

''Denis Law is a legend at this club, so I'm delighted to equal his record," said Rooney. ''It is difficult when teams come and defend with all their players, tough to break down. We had to keep grinding and digging, but we got the chance and the goal.

''We tried to get an early goal and once that doesn't happen it becomes difficult, but we got the goal and the points and that is all that matters.''

Rooney's goal sent United to the top of their group. United need just one win from their last two group matches, at home to PSV Eindhoven and away at VfL Wolfsburg, to reach the last 16.

It is not like how was it under Sir Alex Ferguson is the main thought process. And players like Paul Scholes and Andrei Kanchelskis remain fiercely loyal to Fergie. "I'm looking at his game for the second season now," said Kanchelskis prior to last night's match. "He says that the transformation is going on, but I still couldn't understand what he is looking for. There is an impression that he doesn't know what he wants. No creative players, no wingers. Nobody could serve Wayne Rooney. The current Manchester is not the same as it was under Ferguson." Cue Scholes, who was again scathing in his criticism of LVG.

Paul Parker also made similar complaints in his column for this website on Tuesday.

Yes, but when you are earning cash doing full-time punditry work for BT Sport, you get the feeling this could be a regular theme. And you thought he was a rabid Oldham fan.

"I want to sit here and see United blast teams away, be it brilliant attacking football, have players with creativity, have players who get you on the edge of your seat. I want to see that from Manchester United but it's not been happening," said Scholes. "What you have seen are a team that are brilliantly coached defensively. You have (to be defensive) against Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Real Madrid, not Crystal Palace, not Middlesbrough at home or CSKA Moscow at home - or away for that matter.

"Look, these are tough games and I'm not saying these are dummies these teams, they are decent sides, but United fans need to see something. It's very difficult to coach attractive football. I was lucky enough to play with players that you would give them the ball and they can beat five men and ram the ball in the top corner, players who can beat people, quick players, I just don't see that in this team. Whether Van Gaal doesn't allow them to do that or give them the confidence to do that I just don't know, it's just a sideways, possession, boring style of football and you have to say, does he have a problem with forward players?"

Well, sort of. He has a remedy for Rooney, but even that involved deriding LVG.

"We talk about Rooney, he's getting all the stick, but...I don't think anybody would score goals in this team as a centre forward, I think Sergio Aguero would struggle," he said. "He's getting nothing from midfield, there's no wide players, he's getting no service whatsoever. I watched him for the first 20 minutes of the Manchester derby, he's moving, he's looking really sharp and the ball is just not coming to him. Eventually you get bored."

But at half-time, with United drawing 0-0, Scholes saw signs of improvement.

"I've been really encouraged," he said. "I think it's the best I've seen of Manchester United as an attacking force. I think they are passing the ball really well, (Michael) Carrick has been brilliant passing the ball into the forwards which is what we want. Both full-backs have been bombing on, we've not seen that all season, the box absolutely full of attacking players, players bursting a lung to get into the box. This is exactly what we want to see."

If you listen to Paul Scholes, you probably wouldn't pay any money to watch United until King Louis is dethroned and safely back in an Amsterdam coffee shop. They looked exceptional at Everton a few weeks ago, but appear to retreat back into a state of torpor in the next match. Up and down seems to be the general theme. Going forward at pace with adventure and creativity does not appear to be the Van Gaal way. He would appear to like a player to go back inside to retain possession rather than bound to the byline to deliver a cross. Van Gaal appears to have sorted out the defence at the expense of the attacking threat. Maybe he has been studying videos of Chelsea from last season.

There seems to be such a fear to take risks and lose possession that United are unable or unwilling to bombard an opposition goal. The style United is deploying is not doing enough to satisfy the fans, who binged on Fergie's sides for over two decades. United have enough talent in their side to entertain, but LVG's teams are hardly leaving them rolling in the aisles at the moment for the hundreds of millions he has been allowed to spend. They also appear to lack a consistency of performance required to challenge Manchester City and/or Arsenal for the Premier League unless there is a marked change in the format. Will the straitjacket be taken off their attacking forces such as Martial? Is such a prospect possible under LVG?