Garry Monk masterclass extends Louis Van Gaal learning curve

While United have addressed longstanding problems at right back and central midfield, and found a talented left winger in Memphis Depay, they look woefully short up front. Javier Hernández used to be the go-to man for late goals but, with an equaliser needed, the striker was an unused substitute and has been told that he can leave the club.

There used to be a slight innocence and naivety to Swansea’s style that meant they could come a cropper when first promoted, but here was another reminder that they are prepared to be direct and are more tactically shrewd.

Credit Garry Monk for changing to a diamond formation after his side went behind early after the restart and question United, packed with international stars, for never responding. United were in the ascendancy at the time and Juan Mata attempted to add to his opening goal when Wayne Rooney was better placed to double the advantage. Within five minutes, Swansea, without Jefferson Montero who has a thigh injury, had turned the game on its head and André Ayew punctured United’s defence for the first time in 429 minutes in the league. “This was a big lesson for us,” Van Gaal said. “We needed to adapt much more quicly than we did. They changed in compactness. We did not see the change.”

More troublingly, United failed to respond once they had conceded and, after making the most of unconvincing displays against Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Newcastle United, they finally got their comeuppance. Romero might have done better to stop Ayew’s header into the ground from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s cross, but his later mistake only served to mask the problems.

United retained possession without purpose or panache or a change of pace. Sideways and backwards was never the United way. They used to have Andrei Kanchelskis and Ryan Giggs tearing down the flanks, but now they look laboured and short of width, with Mata out of position on the right flank. Mata made the most of mistakes from Kyle Naughton and Ashley Williams who dawdled on a left-wing cross, to convert his fifth league goal in the calendar year, more than any other player at Old Trafford. This is another big worry for them. In the next week, Wayne Rooney may move alongside Sir Bobby Charlton as England’s highest scorer, yet he is in the middle of a barren run in the league that began with the final six games of last season and has continued through the first four of the new campaign. In that time, Gomis has struck nine times.

They asked what Rooney could do without service several weeks ago and they can wonder why he is unconvincing when presented with four decent chances, when his confidence should have been on a high on the back of a hat-trick in Europe. Twice he was outmuscled by Williams, having initially got the better of the Swansea defender. Early on, Luke Shaw showed wonderful vision with a pass that dissected the defence but Rooney looked laboured and his run on goal was halted by Williams. In the final two minutes, the striker majestically brought down a lofted ball, nutmegged a defender and then strangely delayed his shot. Williams got back to clear.

Instead it was Jonjo Shelvey who grabbed the game midway through the first half, with a range of passing to unsettle United’s defence.

The midfielder, named in the England squad last night, has talked about wanting to reduce his percentage of fat and employed a chef and personal trainer.

Jan Molby never worried and maybe neither should he. From his clever short free kick, Gomis flicked on and Sigurdsson pushed past a post, then Shelvey slipped Gomis clear to roll Daley Blind and the striker clipped the outside of a post.

Shelvey was less influential after the interval, when Ayew showed his vision. Ayew had already proved that he can curl a pass with the outside of a boot when he produced another ball to send Gomis racing clear. The striker scuffed his effort past Romero, who failed to get down. Van Gaal defended the Argentina goalkeeper and laid blame on his outfield players for the build-up, but he will know the importance of keeping De Gea, the club’s player of the year for the past two seasons.

Ratings

Swansea City (4-2-3-1): L Fabianski 7 — K Naughton 6, F Fernández 6, A Williams 67, N Taylor 6 — J Cork 6, J Shelvey 7 (sub: K Bartley, 89min) — A Ayew 8, G Sigurdsson 7, W Routledge 5 (sub: Ki Sung Yueng, 58 7) — B Gomis 8 (sub: Eder, 81). Substitutes not used:K Nordfeldt, N Dyer, F Tabanou, Á Rangel. Booked: Routledge, Shelvey.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): S Romero 4 — M Darmian 6, C Smalling 7, D Blind 5, L Shaw 6 — M Schneiderlin 5 (sub: M Carrick, 70), B Schweinsteiger 5 — J Mata 5 (sub: A Young, 70), A Herrera 5 (sub: M Fellaini, 77), M Depay 5 — W Rooney 5. Substitutes not used: S Johnstone, J Hernández, A Valencia, P McNair. Booked: Schneiderlin, Depay.

Six of the worst for United

Swansea became the sixth team to beat Manchester United three times in a row in the league, joining Chelsea, West Ham United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool

Swansea City

Aug 16, 2014, 2-1

Feb 21, 2015, 2-1

Aug 30, 2015, 2-1

Chelsea

Nov 8, 2009, 1-0

April 3, 2010, 2-1

Mar 1, 2011, 2-1

West Ham United

Dec 17, 2006, 1-0

May 13, 2007, 1-0

Dec 29, 2007, 2-1

Arsenal

Nov 9 1997, 3-2

Mar 14, 1998, 1-0

Sep 20, 1998, 3-0

Liverpool

Sep 13, 2008, 2-1

Mar 14, 2009, 4-1

Oct 25, 2009, 2-0

Manchester City

Sep 22, 2013, 4-1

Mar 25, 2014, 3-0

Nov 2, 2014, 1-0