There was never a belief that great change would be implemented by Ralf Rangnick during his brief spell as interim manager, though given the success of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an initial caretaker role, it was by no means out of the question to suggest he could have a similar impact.
While Solskjaer's brief had been simply 'to put smiles back on faces' Rangnick had loftier ambitions of being able to revolutionise a side which had fallen way beyond the standards set by their two most fierce rivals.
There was a fresh approach to training, a new tactical approach, and the appointment of a sports psychologist in an attempt to stop the rot.
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But ultimately, the Germans' main target was a far simpler one: to concede fewer goals.
Rangnick identified United's poor defensive record as one of the areas where he felt he could make an immediate improvement, emphasising that keeping clean sheets would be down to the entire backline and not just the heroics of David de Gea.
After the 1-0 win over Norwich in December, he said: “The second half was a little bit better, but in the end we were lucky with a clean sheet and there were two or three clean sheets by David de Gea.
“It’s another clean sheet, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.
“We have closed the highest number of goals into the top ten. Now we have two clean sheets, which is good, but we still need to improve it, especially against physical teams or teams that attack high, as Norwich did.”
At first, the signs were positive. United kept four clean sheets in their first seven matches under Rangnick and looked to have genuinely turned a corner. However, in the eighth, they let a two-goal lead slip to draw with Aston Villa, a result that knocked the confidence out of the team.
Since then, they have just three clean sheets in their last 18 outings, conceding 27 goals in the process. It's included four goals against Man City and Liverpool, three goals against Arsenal at the weekend, but perhaps most alarmingly, two goals against a Norwich side who themselves had fought from two goals down.
"We just concede too many goals," Rangnick admitted after a 3-1 loss to Arsenal at the weekend. "Even the way we defended in and around our own box was just not good enough. That is what I am not happy about....it is just too much if you concede on average three or four goals. This is what happened before I arrived then I can not be happy."
United have conceded 50 league goals in a season for only the second time since 1978-79, having now let in 51 this season. It means they have let in an average of 1.5 goals per game, the exact same average as when they conceded 63 goals over 42 games when that dismal record was set.
After signing Raphael Varane last summer, United had hoped their defensive issues would be solved, but ultimately, they have gotten even worse and will once again be a key area of improvement targeted by Erik ten Hag when he takes over.
Identifying problems is one task; actually solving them is something completely different.
