Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United have lost their “aura,” according to Bournemouth defender Simon Francis.
United suffered a fifth top-flight loss of the season on Saturday as Bournemouth clinched a 2-1 win at the Vitality Stadium.
The result followed a Champions League exit for Van Gaal’s injury-hit side, which included Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Guillermo Varela making their full Premier League debuts.
Francis said in the Daily Mirror: “To be honest, I don’t think they have that aura any more probably because of the way they’re playing at the moment.
“Then again, you still have to realise they could have gone top with a win.
“It’s incredible how the Premier League is panning out, everyone seems to be beating everyone in the division but their fear factor is certainly a little bit different.”
Striker Glenn Murray added: “When you come across Man United and you see a back four like that, I think you almost have to fancy your chances.
“It’s a very different United lineup to what we are used to over the years.
“So as soon as we have seen that, and obviously on the back of the confidence of last week [beating Chelsea] — and they had a very difficult game in Europe this week — I think all the factors, we really fancied ourselves.”
United are currently fourth in the table and are next in action at home to Norwich City on Saturday.
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