Manchester United's Defeat to Leicester Highlights Problems with Summer Spend

KING POWER STADIUM, Leicester — The very best and the very worst of Louis van Gaal's new-look Manchester United was on show at the King Power Stadium.

Some of United's attacking football, full of pace and energy, was exhilarating. But their defending, especially during a chaotic final 25 minutes, was diabolical.

Van Gaal was quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "It is not good because we had the game in our pocket and gave it away. Not because of Leicester; we gave it away and I don't like that. We have too many players who want to seek for the goal."

United have a forward line that should have the Red Devils challenging for the Premier League title. But the defence will make Van Gaal nervous about his prospects of leading his new club back into the Champions League at the first attempt.

United fans will say it's perfectly in-keeping with United's summer business this summer.

They have needed a ball-winning, mobile, dynamic midfielder for a while now. They also needed a top-class centre-half after the departures of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

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But they got neither. Instead, Angel Di Maria came in, as did Radamel Falcao. They are fantastic players. Two of the best in the world.

But they are not players best suited to closing out a game against a fearless Leicester, being urged forward by more than 30,000 fans desperate to see a giant fall on their doorstep.

There were positives for Van Gaal, especially during the first half. With Di Maria, Falcao, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney in the team, it's clear they will score goals. They scored two in 16 minutes against Leicester. It could have been five.

But there is a vulnerability about their defending that will always give opposition teams reason to hope. With the score at 3-3, the sight of Jamie Vardy ghosting through the centre of the defence to slot a fourth Leicester goal past David de Gea summed up the afternoon.

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The issue for Van Gaal now is that his gentle opening to the season is almost over and there are still a lot of questions to be answered. United have taken five points from five games against Swansea, Sunderland, Burnley, QPR and Leicester. On the horizon are games against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal before the end of November.

But it's still not clear whether Van Gaal prefers a three- or four-man defence. It's not obvious how he can get the best out of Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao, Di Maria and Juan Mata.

They've got Michael Carrick and Phil Jones to come back from injury. But, for the most part, Van Gaal will have to work with what he's got until at least January.

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The 90 minutes at the King Power Stadium encapsulated everything that was wrong and everything that was right with the way United went about their transfer business this summer.

The wonderful array of attacking players did what they were bought to do, particularly in the first half. But the defence disintegrated in the way many fans feared it might when the gaps at the back and in midfield weren't filled.

The danger for Van Gaal is that the bad might outweigh the good more often than not this season. That for every piece of Di Maria magic, they'll concede a goal that could have been avoided. For every clever Falcao finish, a defensive error will lead to a goal at the other end.

It's the type of football that breeds inconsistency. Exciting one minute, appalling the next. A 4-0 victory followed by a 5-3 defeat.