Manchester United's bleak near future

Perhaps more than Liverpool's great performance in their 0-3 victory over Manchester United, was the low level to which Manchester United has sunk. I am not going to comment on whether David Moyes is the right coach; I think everyone expected a period of instability after Sir Alex Ferguson's exit, but it is clear that besides the poor tactical choices, Manchester United's players have lost confidence. Robbie Van Persie, who was a goal machine last season, misses shots he could have made with his eyes shut. And the defense is much more worrying, with particularly Rafael increasingly seeming like a blind man. Even Juan Mata, who joined the club with such fanfare, seems a shadow of himself.
Manchester United are effectively out of the title race, and seem unlikely to make it to the Champions League. In that self-same tournament they still have a ray of hope, but must play much better than they have done against Liverpool if to avoid elimination by an Olympiakos side that overcame them by 2-0 in Greece.
So what is to be done? David Moyes is under pressure, and many will be claiming to get a new coach. However, it may come down to what Sir Alex Ferguson has to say. If the club continues to believe in Moyes' project, they may be willing to have a couple of bad seasons as Moyes builds up a strong side. That is nevertheless a great luxury in modern football, where patience is a rarity. It remains to be seen what they will do, but it may be many years before we see Manchester United with a title again.