Manchester United need their four leaders to step up before Burnley game

If it can go wrong for Manchester United at the moment, then it's a fair assumption that it will. After a dreadful week for the club and its supporters, the football actually looked to be going well against Middlesbrough, but soon the klaxons were sounding.

The first alarm bell signalled the inability of food and drink to be served at half-time. With United 1-0 up and in control, it was almost a humorous interlude, but by the end of another wretched night in a miserable season, it just felt like part of the script.

Things have got so bad that United can’t even make any money at half-time. They handed what hot food remained to supporters as they left the stadium close to 11pm, having seen their team dumped out of another cup competition. The Champions League is United’s last hope of avoiding a five-year trophy drought, but on this evidence that’s pie in the sky.

On the pitch, the humiliations have just kept coming this season. Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City, Watford, Wolves and now Middlesbrough. Just when it looked like a corner had been turned, United lost control of the steering wheel once again.

Ralf Rangnick was bullish in his programme notes. Talking about the improvement since the FA Cup third-round win against Aston Villa, he boldly declared: “I am hopeful that we can put on a more dominant performance this evening.”

Bold decorations from United managers this season have tended to end with egg on the face. Seven points from nine before the break had looked positive, if not always convincing. But a good 55 minutes against Middlesbrough gave way to another crisis of confidence and a struggle to regain control against a Championship team.

There was almost a perverse inevitability to the fact that the player