Cristiano Ronaldo signing has been unable to solve Manchester United issue that Sir Alex Ferguson left

Ralf Rangnick made it clear he wanted to improve Manchester United's defensive record as soon as he took over at the club, but it has recently become clear that his side are also suffering at the other end of the pitch despite an abundance of attacking talents.

Last summer, United recognised the need for extra firepower up front when they splashed £73million on Jadon Sancho, before further bolstering their attacking options with an impromptu pursuit of scoring sensation Cristiano Ronaldo.

Yet despite such heavy investment, many of the same issues remain.

In the last two matches, United have squandered a string of big opportunities which have come back to haunt them, failing to capitalise upon their early dominance at home to Middlesbrough and away at Burnley.

United's attackers have almost been done a favour by poor defending and equally poor officiating in both matches, so that other people have been scapegoated for their own failures in the final third.

The startling truth is that United have had 52 shots in their last two matches and have only scored two goals, or three goals from 70 shots if the late win over West Ham is also brought into the equation.

Despite mustering 22 efforts at Turf Moor, United only finished the match with an xG of 1.67, a stat which further highlights the lack of quality chances being created despite the high quantity of them.

It was a similar story against Boro in the FA Cup too, where United squandered a staggering number of chances before eventually being dumped out of the competition on penalties.

For many fans, a scandalous equalising goal took the brunt of the post-match fury, though it was the frustrating forwards who arguably had a bigger impact on the scoreline.

Rangnick stated