Alan Shearer comments are a wake-up call to Manchester United and David de Gea

Just when it appears like Manchester United have turned a corner, they often end up going around in circles.

There was certainly some mitigation to their defeat at St. James' Park on Sunday afternoon, but regardless of who was missing, it was a performance that highlighted many of the same old problems.

It was clear from the opening few minutes that United hadn't arrived to control the match themselves, instead looking to play Newcastle at what they perceived as their own game.

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United were caught in two minds as they looked to incorporate elements of the possession-based football Erik ten Hag wants to implement, with the no-nonsense approach designed to frustrate the home side.

At times, they tried to play out from the back; at others, they decided to just lump the ball long—a mismatch of styles that contributed to their poor performance.

What is even worse for United, though, is that Newcastle were well aware of this identity crisis and pinpointed it as an area of weakness right from the off.

"Their first goal kick, De Gea was taking a while," Josh Murphy told Rio Ferdinand after the match. "This is a bit unusual; he was taking his time with it, he was asking everyone to go up field, then hit long. They were just taking a while, lots of pointing, I could sense from that, we were going to have a good game from there."

It wasn't just his kicking that was a problem, either. The other well-documented issue with David de Gea is his tendency to stick to his line, something that was apparent with both goals Newcastle scored.

Alan Shearer also noted it as a continuing problem point in United's approach, noting that the Spanish goalkeeper simply isn't the right fit for