I know what happened last Sunday

I know what happened last Sunday

The postmortem of United's 6-1 defeat to City is still going on and millions of United fans across the world are still in mourning.

Pundits and media are pointing their fingers at the missed signing of Wesley Sneijder, and at the manager's decision to bring in Jonny Evans, who always seems to have a mistake in him, in the place of Vidic who is fit again.

But I think the problem lies elsewhere. How can a United side which was flying in pre-season and in the beginning of the league, with Jonny Evans and without Sneijder, go from good to bad in a span of three weeks?

If you take a look at the United side three weeks back and now, there's only one missing element, and that's Tom Cleverly. Some of you may not rate Cleverly as a great player. I agree he's still largely untested in the Premier League, but the boy ticks for United. You should remember what Wigan manager Roberto Martinez told before the league started - he said, "Forget Sneijder, Cleverly is going to be the star for United this season". And what happened in the pre-season game against Barcelona which United won? Cleverly's superb substitute appearance turned the game in United's favor.

What Anderson and Fletcher could not provide to United, Cleverly can. The current midfield lineup of Anderson and Fletcher are slow in releasing the ball to the front men. But Cleverly is quick, quick in releasing the ball and puts the ball in perfect places. That's what United was missing in the last three games. Without him, they struggled against Norwich, got battered at Liverpool and humiliated by City.

All other aspects of last Sunday’s defeat, like Evans being selected ahead of Vidic, Hernandez starting on the bench, Rio Ferdinand and Evra misfiring are just secondary reasons.

Last Sunday, United did start the game confidently, and even after a goal down and a man down they kept attacking. With their perfect record at Old Trafford and the Community Shield winning experience against City, they were tend to do that. But if you are toothless in attack, you get attacked. United must rush back Cleverly - only he can provide the bite in their attack.