Confidence Should Remain High at Old Trafford Despite Derby Defeat

These are different times at Manchester United.

A defeat to Manchester City in the most recent Manchester derby is probably, at this moment, not surprising while a home draw with Chelsea is seen as a point gained rather than two dropped. This is not by any means a criticism of United but a mere representation of the shift in expectation following the disastrous 2013-14 season.

With this in mind, confidence at Old Trafford should still be high as the Reds head into a home fixture against Crystal Palace on Saturday even with the ever-increasing pressure on United to string a winning run together. After 10 Premier League matches and United's worst start to a campaign since 1986, as pointed out by the Daily Telegraph's Alan Tyers, United remain only four points away from fourth place.

United have been fortunate that the form of Arsenal and Liverpool has been equally as disappointing in terms of results, as in another year, United could quite conceivably be further adrift of the Champions League places.

Some may find this to be little consolation, but the fact United have, in the last two matches, played arguably their best football in the past one-and-a-half seasons is surely a source of encouragement.

Louis van Gaal's side weren't expected to take any points from the two fixtures against Chelsea and Manchester City. However, United performed well and competed with the two best teams in the Premier League over 180 minutes of football, gaining a point in the process. There seems to now be a clear plan within United's football rather than the "wait and see" approach that plagued last term's campaign.

The opening half-hour at Eastlands was, from the perspective of an away team, a masterclass. United retained possession expertly within the midfield five, with Daley Blind often filling a defensive position to give David de Gea an option to pass the ball centrally.

In addition to this, Marouane Fellaini looked confident both on and off the ball using his physical presence when required. It was only really Sergio Aguero who looked like causing United problems, which is completely understandable given his form and quality.

There was a compactness to United's midfield play that was in evidence the week before against Chelsea, a real sign of solidity and ability to stick to a game plan. There had been a clearly thought-out plan by the management before the matches, and it was a plan that the players bought into and executed well.

As Van Gaal pointed out in his pre-match press conference last week, as detailed by the Mirror Online, United are "growing" and "developing" with supporters seeing signs of the players now showing an understanding of Van Gaal's much-talked-about philosophy. This is something for the players to take confidence from and use going forward with the club needing to string together a run of positive results.

Saturday's meeting with Crystal Palace is, on paper, a perfect opportunity to kick-start such a run. The absences of Wilfried Zaha and Mile Jedinak through loan regulations and suspension, respectively—as reported by Neil McLeman of the Daily Mirror—will be a blow to the visitors in a match United should have more than enough quality to take three points.

United's poor results at the beginning of the campaign could be put down to defensive injuries and an unfamiliarity with Van Gaal's methods. We're in November now, and the latter can no longer be pointed to as an excuse. United have shown concerted improvements over the past months and now must start showcasing those improvements regularly.

There is a confidence in midfield. The manager is getting the best out of Fellaini, a player whom nobody connected with United quite knew what to do with, and if United can play like they did against Chelsea and City on Saturday, the result against Palace should be a positive one and signal the start of United rising up the table.

There is still an understandable element of gloom among supporters. A defeat to Manchester City is always going to be unpleasant, but the positives this time around far outweigh the negative feeling caused by the result.

United are starting to play like a team with a plan and a focus in matches. In addition, there are now individuals of such a high quality, the likes of which United supporters haven't seen for a number of years. If you look at a confident Manchester United team with the individual quality of Angel Di Maria as part of that, you have a team with a lot of potential. Fans have seen the first signs of this potential in recent weeks, and now is the period to make it show.

United have come through the difficult opening period of the season, with the club hampered by both injuries and change. Following this, the club has come through arguably the two toughest matches they will face this year and have competed well. From now until the New Year, despite clashes with Arsenal and Liverpool, United have to start showing the progress on a regular basis.

The confidence within the squad should be there following the displays in recent weeks, and the next six or seven matches are United's opportunity to show exactly how far they have progressed in recent months and why the future is bright despite results so far not reflecting that belief.