Poll: can David Moyes lift Manchester United from its current stupor?

VOTE: Mark Bosnich says it's crisis time at United. After the Sunderland loss, should the club stick with David Moyes?

SUNDERLAND is bottom of the Premier League. Gus Poyet is trying desperately to rebuild a side left in tatters by Paolo di Canio. That only 17,453 Black Cats supporters filled the 49,000-seat Stadium of Light for a Cup semi-final says a lot about the mood at the club.

And Manchester United still couldn't beat them.

For the first time since 2001, United has lost three games on the bounce.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich, who has ruled the club out of the title race, says it's crisis time at Old Trafford.

"There are different levels of expectations. At the big clubs, three losses on the trot is an absolute crisis," Bosnich told Fox Sports News.

"He'll be getting it from both ends. A lot of people are saying we should be blaming the players.

"Me, I'd be looking upstairs as well. at such a big club with a new manager ... he's got to be able to install his own team and that costs money.

"If they want to remain with the big boys they are going to have to spend."

News_Image_File: Moyes is still working in Sir Alex Ferguson's shadow.

News_Rich_Media: Fox Sports football commentator says the pressure on Manchester United manager David Moyes is reaching fever pitch.

In one week, 20 years supremacy over Sunderland and an undefeated record over Swansea have gone out the window. There have been five losses at Old Trafford this term. This United side has already lost more games than the club did each season for the past three campaigns.

And while this malaise remains, the spectre of missing the UEFA Champions League positions continues to loom large - with the $90m consequence that comes with it.

So United is five points adrift of the top four and out of the FA Cup. It isn't totally doom and gloom after this morning's loss - an away goal going into the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Sunderland at Old Trafford helps, but it will be an uncomfortable atmosphere on January 22 in the return leg.

It makes grim reading for Moyes. In the trigger happy modern world of football, there are plenty of clubs who would have turned for a quick fix to salvage the season.

Manchester United is different.

"It is difficult. We just need to keep going," Moyes said - again, in what seems a well-worn post-match answer, before voicing his displeasure with the officiating.

"We didn't do a lot wrong. I thought the referee was going to blow in our direction for the first goal. I couldn't believe he gave a free-kick. It was a terrible decision.

"We are all just laughing at them at the minute. We get a player booked for doing the same. It looks as though we are having to play them (officials) as well as the opposition at the moment.

"I thought our crowd were unbelievable. The players deserved to get a result. It's a two-legged game and I am really looking forward to the second leg."

The club famously stood by Alex Ferguson during his teething years at Old Trafford, the only question now is: can United afford the time Moyes needs to adjust to Fergie's throne?

THE CASE FOR

David Moyes was asked in the press conference after the loss whether Sir Alex Ferguson's continued attendance at games and his looming shadow is a distraction. The younger Scot doesn't think so, but the impact of the Fergie Factor on this squad is now undeniable.

The last time United suffered a similar lapse in intensity and success was when Fergie announced he would retire back in 2001. Players dropped their guard then, and seemingly, they've done it again now.

What was the point of him retiring. He's at every game. Go on holiday. Play golf. Spend time with your family. Or friends Busy c*nt #fergie

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) January 7, 2014

Moyes may have inherited a title winning squad, but it was one clearly needing renewal to remain at the forefront. Not only that, the group clearly needs the shake-up everyone talks about happening in the transfer market because they're not performing without Fergie barking in their ears.

News_Image_File: It's a confusing time at Manchester United.

Gary Pallister, who played over 400 times for United, told The Sun this week: "You have lost Alex Ferguson, that monster who won trophy after trophy.

"Things have changed and you're trusting a new manager at the helm.

"He is walking in there not understanding some of the personalities that he is having to work with.

"The players have to create that bond all of a sudden with a new manager. Moyes has to create that trust between the players and his staff and management. All that is a work in progress."

Moyes's struggles in the summer window were well documented, as is United's yearning for a top class central midfielder.

Until Moyes ventures into the market again, and gets the support from head office that he didn't receive in his first summer at the club, he deserves the chance to prove his credentials with players he has brought in.

Or, that he has the power to still convince the best players that Old Trafford is a place to come to. Comments like this from Roma's Daniele De Rossi, do him no favours: "It was a good thing that I didn't go to Manchester, now I would have committed suicide," he told Corriere Dello Sport.

The quality in the league has moved along - Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, are on another level. Even Everton.

United hasn't renewed at the same pace and Moyes needs time to make those changes.

News_Image_File: Sunderland's Italian forward Fabio Borini rubs insult into injury in the Capital One Cup.

THE CASE AGAINST

Imagine if Sir Alex Ferguson was sacked in his three trophyless years after his appointment in 1986.

United is a club that stands proudly for stability and commitment; indeed, the away supporters on Wednesday morning chanted "every single one of us will stand by David Moyes".

But 2013 is a different world to 1986 and Manchester United is in a territory many of its new breed of fans will have never seen before.

Without the individual brilliance of Adnan Januzaj against Sunderland, or Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney when fit, it's hard to discern what this United side is actually about. How long can he still turn to Ryan Giggs in the big games for?

Moyes says he isn't feeling pressure because he's got the long term mandate.

But confidence is shot, the aura at Old Trafford is gone, penetration from out wide or in behind is rare and the midfield is a shadow of its former self.

Even more worryingly, Sunderland even showed more fight in the Cup.

Meanwhile, over at Goodison Park, Roberto Martinez has already claimed more points than a Moyes Everton outfit did after 20 games in every season but 2004-05.