Louis van Gaal admits his Manchester United side underperformed as they edged out Sheffield United 1-0 in the third-round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

After enduring a drab December and failing to bring the electrifying brand of football the Old Trafford faithful crave the jury is still out for Louis van Gaal.

Chris Smalling is hoping Manchester United can build on their positive start to the new year following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Swansea City.

Since the Premier League began in 1992, Manchester United boast as having the best Boxing Day record of any team in the competition.

Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Ander Herrera have all completed a full week of training but it remains unclear whether the trio will return to the starting line-up against the Canaries.

Wayne Rooney will have to wait to make his 500th Manchester United appearance after being ruled out of tomorrow’s Premier League clash with West Ham.

Louis van Gaal insists Manchester United need to inherit a ruthless streak in order to become Premier League champions after a 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

Sir Alex Ferguson did not have a goalless draw in his final 116 games in charge of Manchester, while Louis van Gaal, by contrast, amassed three stalemates in a week last month and so far nine of his 66 games in charge have resulted in dead rubbers.

Manchester United will go into Saturday’s lunch-time clash at Watford without a senior striker, after Louis van Gaal revealed the extent of their injury woes.

Wayne Rooney: England and Manchester United captain, the nation’s all-time leading goal-scorer and… wrestling entertainment superstar? Maybe not quite, but for a few seconds last night Roonamania ran wild at the Manchester Arena.

Louis van Gaal’s substitution of Anthony Martial for Marouane Fellaini was met by a chorus of boos from the Old Trafford faithful in Wednesday night’s pivotal win against CSKA Moscow.