Manchester United's issues over the past decade and more are too numerous to dig into with any brevity at all - but the lack of a reliable central midfield talisman has been one of them.
It's an age-old problem for Manchester United. Finding a long-term successor to Roy Keane before he left under a cloud back in 2005 was tricky, with the expensively-acquired Juan Sebastian Veron failing to make an impression. Michael Carrick earned plenty of respect in the deep-lying role, but was a very different kind of player. Owen Hargreaves was excellent for a brief time, but injuries curtailed his career at Old Trafford.
