The picture that proves Manchester United players struggle to listen to the manager

Erik ten Hag and Heath Ledger's Joker are unlikely bedfellows but both are agents of chaos.

Chaos reigned in the fifth Manchester United match of the season that ended 4-3 at Chelsea. After Cole Palmer's 100th-minute equaliser, United opted for the pioneering 2-3-4-1 formation, ceded possession, Chelsea went close twice and Palmer then won it from a corner.

United were as amateurish as primary schoolchildren during a lunchtime kickabout. No concept of positioning, formation or tactics. Diogo Dalot acted on impulse, desperate to atone for the penalty he had clumsily conceded.

Ten Hag had urged United to calm down more than once in the second half. For the umpteenth time this season, the players did not listen.

A minor point, but Palmer's hat-trick goal counts as another pull-back United have conceded from. That can be added to the video nasty with Arsenal, Brighton, Bayern Munich, Copenhagen, Nottingham Forest and Brentford's conversions.

Goals conceded from pull-backs, goals conceded in added time and a winner conceded in added time. United have been guilty on all counts dating back to their fourth game of the season at Arsenal on September 3.

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On Sunday, Ten Hag will likely select the 26th different back four in United's 43rd game of the season. Ten Hag cannot rue bad luck when three centre backs have been rushed back over the past week and they have all dropped like flies.

Club doctor Gary O'Driscoll was conversing with assistant manager Mitchell van der Gaag while Harry Maguire was ordering the bench to remove Raphael Varane. United let Varane continue until