ans Nielsen and pushed the puck ahead to Ladd,

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. Wholesale Kobe Bryant Shoes . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. Kobe Bryant Shoes From China . Hazard lasted just 18 minutes in Tuesdays contest before being substituted with the calf problem, and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes he will be without his star winger for at least the next two weeks. https://www.cheapkobebryantshoes.com/ . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. Kobe Bryant Shoes Deals . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. Kobe Bryant Shoes Outlet . He managed to save par, and went on to put together his best opening round of the year. Calcavecchia and Wes Short Jr.WINNIPEG -- On a day when the New York Islanders needed a lift, Michael Grabner was glad to provide one. Grabner scored on a breakaway 3:53 into overtime as the Islanders defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Tuesday. The victory came just hours after defenceman Andrew MacDonald was traded to Philadelphia and winger Thomas Vaneks future was up in the air. Cal Clutterbuck sent a pass from around the blue line up to Grabner, who slipped between Jets defencemen Jacob Trouba and Zach Bogosian and beat Ondrej Pavelec with a low shot. The Islanders (24-32-8) also got a goal and assist from Anders Lee and a goal from Colin McDonald to end a two-game losing skid. Jets captain Andrew Ladd scored his 16th and 17th goals of the season, tying the game 2-2 with 5:07 left in the third period for Winnipeg (30-26-7), which had a two-game winning streak end. Earlier in the day, the veteran MacDonald was traded to Philadelphia for centre Matt Mangene and a third-round pick in this years NHL draft and second-round pick in 2015. Vanek, who has 21 goals and 53 points, was then a healthy scratch amid rumours hell be traded before Wednesday afternoons trade deadline. "I dont really try to think about it," Grabner said of the days turmoil. "Ive been traded before, Ive been on waivers. Its business. You cant really influence what happens...You have to just stay in the moment, day by day, and after (Wednesday) well be all done for at least a couple of months again. "Ive been through this, Ive seen people traded on game days. Of course, its weird. (Vanek) came to the rink with us and then hes told hes not playing. It changes things around. But like I said, we did a great job of focusing on not letting this stuff distract us." New York captain John Tavares is already out for the rest of the season with a knee injury he suffered playing for Canada in the Olympic Games. "It was difficult," Isles coach Jack Capuano said. "Ive been around Andrew a long time and watched him grow in this league. Hes been a great player for us, a great team guy and a great friend to a lot of guys, so its tough the first game without him. "And, obviously, Thomas has been with us since the start of the year. We all know its a business, and every guy will tell you that we wish him the best of luck, both of those guys." Ladd scored his first goal after Islanders forward Josh Bailey turned over the puck in the Jets zone under pressure from defenceman Mark Stuart.dddddddddddd Winnipeg centre Olli Jokinen then sent a pass up the ice to Ladd, who went in alone on goalie Nilsson and beat him with a low shot on the blocker side at 14:53. "I thought we came out tight, but we battled back and got a lot of chances and found a way to get it to overtime," Ladd said. "I think well take the positive of getting one point and move on." In the final three minutes, Nilsson was called for delay of game when he shot the puck over the glass, but the Jets couldnt capitalize on their fifth power play of the game. Nilsson made 36 saves and Pavelec stopped 24 shots. The Jets, now 11-3-2 under head coach Paul Maurice, who took over after Claude Noel was fired Jan. 12, didnt help or hurt themselves too much in the playoff race. Winnipeg is now one point back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, which is held by the Dallas Stars, who lost 4-2 Tuesday in Columbus but have a game in hand. Winnipeg sits at 67 points, one ahead of Vancouver, which fell to Phoenix 1-0 Tuesday night. "They were a tough opponent tonight," Jets winger Blake Wheeler said. "And like I said, were proud of the fact that we were able to rally and get a point." Winnipeg opened the scoring when centre Bryan Little won a faceoff against Frans Nielsen and pushed the puck ahead to Ladd, who went to the front of the net and beat Nilsson between the pads at 10:57. The Islanders, who were dominating the first period, kept pressuring Pavelec and got a lucky bounce when Ryan Stromes shot went off the backboards and out onto McDonalds stick and he fired the puck in at 17:30 to tie the game. New York scored 1:33 into the second period on a goal that was reviewed for high sticking. Lee went in alone on Pavelec, who got a piece of his shot, but the puck went high behind him and Lee put his stick up and knocked it down and into the net for his third goal of the season. The Jets outshot the Islanders 17-7 in the middle frame to up their margin 26-20, but they lost rookie Mark Scheifele to a knee injury. The young centre took a hit from defenceman Calvin de Haan with just under nine minutes left in the period, fell to the ice and went straight to the dressing room. Maurice said Scheifele, who has 13 goals and 34 points this season, will be evaluated on Wednesday. Winnipeg hosts Los Angeles on Thursday. Notes: Tuesday marked Paul Maurices 1,100th game as a head coach. ' ' '