Marcelo Bielsa will be assessing what went wrong for his Leeds United team today following the 6-2 loss against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men.
A Man of the Match performance from Scottish international Scott McTominay could not have been foreseen, but Leeds did appear off the pace and sloppier than usual from the first whistle.
That proved to be costly, as McTominay gave Man United an early two goal advantage with a pair of well-executed finishes past Illan Meslier. The Frenchman was one of few Leeds players who can count himself satisfied with his display, making yet another eight saves from some of the league's best forwards.
Liam Cooper's forced withdrawal in the second half will be of some concern to Bielsa who indicated in his post-match press conference that he did not know the severity of the skipper's injury.
Added to the lengthy absences of Robin Koch and Gaetano Berardi, the Argentine will be hoping his captain's injury is not a serious one.
LeedsLive explores five key talking points from the Whites' latest defeat.
Pragmatism?
Calls for Marcelo Bielsa to curb the exuberance and enthusiasm of his Leeds team were made following the final whistle, but that would be a mistake.
As Roy Keane aptly stated in Sky Sports' post-match coverage, Leeds should have enough points on the board come the end of the season to not have to worry about relegation, regardless of a handful of heavy defeats. Keane labelled them entertaining and it is hard to disagree; Leeds battled throughout the 6-2 defeat to Manchester United and on a different day, if Raphinha's volley which kissed the post had gone in, it may have been a different game.
Leeds only have one way of playing, as the entire league has witnessed in the opening 14 games of the season. In fact, if Marcelo Bielsa tried to drill his Whites players into a more rigid, structured shape, it may expose some of their individual weaknesses, as after all, the vast majority of this squad remains of Championship quality.
Man-marking
One area the Argentine may look to improve is tweaking how Leeds approach defensive set-pieces. Yet again, Leeds were second to the punch at a crucial set-play, with Anthony Martial using Patrick Bamford to his advantage in blocking Stuart Dallas being able to track his run.
The Frenchman nodded on to Victor Lindelof at the back post, catching Leeds on the back foot, leading to another set-piece the Whites have conceded from.
It is unlikely Bielsa will change his methods now, he has been staunch in his defence of how Leeds set up at corners and free-kicks, but given that the vast majority of the league employ zonal marking, it is food for thought.
Meslier saves again
Once again Illan Meslier gave a good account of himself despite a damaging defeat. The young goalkeeper made no fewer than eight saves at Old Trafford, the joint-most he has made in any game this season.
A spell in the second half saw Man United pepper the Frenchman's goal with a number of good strikes, but Meslier was equal to them each time.
He was a key reason the game ended six goals to two, rather than an altogether more embarrassing scoreline.
Defensive crisis
The image of captain and last-remaining fit centre-back Liam Cooper hobbling off the pitch in the closing stages when already 6-2 down was the last thing any Leeds supporter wanted to see.
Bielsa's skipper felt something as he stretched and strained in his attempts to keep the score down, eventually succumbing to an as yet unknown injury. It is hoped that Diego Llorente will return to training this week with a view to featuring against Burnley on December 27th, although this is far from an ideal scenario for Bielsa.
The last time he was forced to play Llorente before he was ready was the 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, in which the Spaniard pulled up in the closing stages with another muscle problem.
Half-time substitutions
Marcelo Bielsa has never been afraid to make drastic changes to his side if things are not going his way at the interval, and at 4-1 down yesterday, he pulled Mateusz Klich and Kalvin Phillips from the field.
In their place Jamie Shackleton and Pascal Struijk took to the pitch, but it could well have been a tactical decision by the Argentine, in order to make sure both Klich and Phillips were available for a much more winnable fixture against Burnley on Sunday.
Both players are on four yellow cards for the season, meaning one more caution would result in a one-match ban. Given how stretched the game was at Old Trafford, it is likely either of Klich or Phillips would have committed a foul and been at the mercy of referee Anthony Taylor.
In taking that calculated decision, Bielsa could have ensured he has as strong a team as possible to face the Clarets this coming weekend.
