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In the Premier League era, which is now 21-and-a-half seasons old, Manchester United have ended a season without a trophy only five times. 1994-95, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2004-05 and 2011-12. And by a trophy I mean one you work hard to earn, not a shield you lift in the summer when half of England is still watching cricket. In four of the five seasons following those droughts, they won the Premier League the very next year. An instant response to a year of failure. The only year they didnt win it right away, they won it the year after. It is easy to stare at the achievements of Manchester United in the last 21-and-a-half seasons and be mesmerized. Recent high profile media items, such as Sir Alex Fergusons autobiography or the excellent The Class of 92 documentary, have also shone very bright lights on Uniteds incredible achievements. However, a look at the barren years also brings light to a relevant point. Read those five years above once again and you will notice that not once did United have two years within a three year period without a trophy. Until now. Wednesdays loss to Sunderland on penalties in the League Cup semi final at Old Trafford virtually ensured the season of 2013/14 will be added to the above list. Only the Champions League remains for United to win this season and anyone who watched them closely against Sunderland will tell you that they will have a tough time with Olympiakos, their last 16 opponents, let alone even thinking of winning European footballs crown jewel. As the Old Trafford faithful trudged away from the ground on Wednesday evening they did so with the sounds of Sunderland fans singing in their ears. Already this season that has happened with West Brom fans, Everton fans, Newcastle fans and Swansea fans. United fans are used to leaving the game happy. They are certainly not used to leaving it angry and upset after playing average teams. Indeed, these are troubled times for Manchester United and manager David Moyes. Troubled times on and off the pitch. On the pitch everyone has an opinion on what Uniteds failures are and many words will continue to be written about that, but what of the issues off it? Hung in the Stretford End of Old Trafford is a large banner with the face of David Moyes on it saying The Chosen One. The appointment of Moyes came via the approval of Sir Alex Ferguson and that was supposed to be enough for United and their fans. However, no matter how much patience United fans show Moyes it will always come with a caveat; just how good a manager is he? Having won nothing, it is a legitimate question. Manchester United may well be proven right in not hiring a Jose Mourinho or Guus Hiddink, for example, last summer but had they hired a manager with a track record of success, their current failures would have solely been attributed to the players. It is one thing for the media and fans to say Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young, for example, are not good enough for Manchester United but inside such analysis comes a question they cannot truly answer; would these players do better under a more established manager? And that is where many people now stand with United; turning around at a fork in the road, looking at the journey they have travelled this season and wondering how many failures happened on Moyess Motorway and how many took place on the Players Path. The easy answer is to say both. But what if you are Moyes? You spent 11 relatively successful years at Everton and got hired by one of the worlds greatest clubs on a fantastic contract. Five months into your first season do you think you are to blame for the mess? Of course you do not. And that is the silver lining for United fans. This club has backed Moyes with a six-year contract and now they have to back him when he believes his players are the reason for their poor results. The line between the barren seasons of 2011/12 and 2013/14 will be the shortest failure line in over two decade (the only common denominators between the two are players not called Robin van Persie) and it is absolutely vital that Manchester United Football Club address everything right now to ensure that doesnt happen again. Two seasons ago, United were very average for their high standards, yet came within a minute of winning the Premier League. That season United were stunned by a Champions League, where Benfica and Basel ran through their midfield and scored eight goals between them in four matches. United were sent into the Europa League and would go on to again be exposed in similar fashion, losing back-to-back home games to technically superior teams, Ajax and Athletic Bilbao. Their response? Buy Robin van Persie. An outstanding player who they needed, but it was a short-term fix papering over a long-term problem. Sir Alex Ferguson always believed in himself to make the players better and wanted players he could control. Except, when he was spending 60 million pounds on Young, Smalling, Phil Jones and Wilfried Zaha, the noisy neighbours across the city spent just 10 million more on Sergio Aguero, Matija Nastasic and Jesus Navas. United do not need to buy six or seven world class stars to become a force again. Three or four of the right signings in 2014 will be enough. What they do need is an overhaul in their approach; a change in the way they find players and a change in the way they set-up to play. Without that, they may never find out the answer to the one question they need to solve quickly. Is Moyes indeed the manager to make them legitimate contenders for trophies every season? Only this time next year will we have a true idea of that as the manager himself explained. "While we are actively scouting players all the time, a lot of the work we are doing now is preparation for the summer," Moyes wrote in his programme notes for the Sunderland game. "If we can do any business now then we will certainly try to do it, but I will not compromise the standards required for a player that can come into this club and help improve it." Manchester United fans are fortunate they have the funds available to get players like Juan Mata who ticks both boxes when it comes to a change of philosophy on the pitch and in the transfer market. The Spaniard, expected to arrive at Old Trafford this week, is exactly the standard United should be buying. He is also exactly the kind of player that will put to test the credentials of Moyes and his so-far rigid, uninspiring attack. Should Mata sign, he, along with those brought in this summer, suddenly become the face of a new look United. A United belonging solely to Moyes. Only then will the jury have reached its verdict on the manager. Uniteds response to failure in the past has always resulted in a trophy. This time the reputation of their manager depends on it. Dominik Simon Penguins Jersey . With one week left in the regular season, Cornish - voted The Toughest Player To Bring Down - is a leading candidate for the CFLs Most Outstanding Player award. He has rushed for 1,799 yards and could break Willie Burdens club record for rushing yards in a single season with a 98-yard performance against the B. Custom Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com/evgeni-malkin-jersey/ . Notes on P.K. Subban, Dale Weise, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Ilya Bryzgalov and more. Mario Lemieux Jersey . -- Sonny Grays fastball wasnt as sharp as it usually is, and the Oakland Athletics young pitcher even had a quirky replay go against him. Dominik Simon Jersey . The thinking at the time was Clowney could have already been promised he would be selected first overall by the Houston Texans, therefore negating any need to meet with any other teams. The plot took another twist this week.If there are two bloodsport rivals in the Western Conference, it has to be the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, powers of the Pacific Division, who meet at the Staples Center Saturday afternoon in Game 1 of the quarterfinals. Catch the game on TSN starting at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt. There have been fistfights, elbows to throats, ejections, claims of "cowardly basketball," and old-fashioned physical play. That was all just on Christmas night! Actually, three of the four regular-season meetings in 2013-14 featured some sort of physical altercation. "Not to hype it up at all, but there is no love lost between these two teams," Warriors forward David Lee said after a Golden State loss to the Clippers on March 12. But, behind all of the silly pushing and shoving, lies a rivalry predicated on two teams that are both offensively proficient and defensively underrated. The Clippers finished first in scoring this season, with the Warriors 10th. Golden State was also 10th in opponents scoring and LA came in 14th in that category. Los Angeles underwent significant changes in the offseason. Head coach Doc Rivers was acquired from the Boston Celtics for a first-round pick. He runs the basketball operations and brought in J.J. Redick, Jared Dudley, Danny Granger and Glen Davis. But the Clippers are run by Rivers newest incarnation of the Big Three. Blake Griffin will most likely finish third in MVP voting behind Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant and Miamis LeBron James. Guard Chris Paul might have come in third had he not missed significant time with a shoulder injury. And DeAndre Jordan led the NBA in rebounding and finished third in blocked shots. It all translated into a franchise-reccord 57 wins.dddddddddddd The Warriors also brought in a new, impactful face in the form of defensive specialist Andre Iguodala. However, the Warriors are built on their backcourt of Klay Thompson and especially Steph Curry. The two went 484-for-1,150 from long distance for 42 percent. Curry improved dramatically as a facilitator, averaging 8.5 assists per game, which ranked fifth in the NBA. He made his first All-Star team and is among the games elite. Head coach Mark Jackson tried to infuse a defensive mindset into the group. It worked for the most part, but problem is, their top enforcer, starting center Andrew Bogut, is out indefinitely with a broken rib. He was at the heart of most of the problems between the two teams. And this is a huge series for Jackson. Reports indicate his job might be in jeopardy if the Warriors lose. Allegations are he and owner Joe Lacob are at odds and, despite leading Golden State to a first-round upset of the Denver Nuggets last season, Jackson might be on the unemployment line if the Warriors lose. The two teams dont like each other as Lee pointed out, and the series should be physical. Keeping out of the skirmishes could be an issue for the Clippers, who lost in the first round last season, despite having home-court advantage over the Memphis Grizzlies. "Like weve said all season long, its about us," Paul said. "Its not about them. We have to play our game and do what were supposed to do and well be just fine. We have to realize that each game takes on its own personality. Its one win at a time." The two sides split four meetings this season with the home team prevailing each time. The Warriors have dropped four of their last five as the visitor in this series. ' ' '