'Six' is the number of the beast Man United are missing at the moment, but even that's far from a cure-all.

This past weekend at the King Power was just another case of 'why are Man United like this three years into their latest project'. So far, it's been a case of arrested development for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Yes, there was fanfare (a grotesque level, might I add) when Cristiano Ronaldo returned like the prodigal son. Yes, the Red Devils finally landed Jadon Sancho after a very public courting. And yes, they also signed 'Champions League Varane'. But they haven't quite kicked on, have they?

Glance at that team on paper and there are a couple of holes, primarily in midfield and at right-back. But even then, this is a team that should ideally be competing at the very top. Whether they are is a question that was answered with an exclamation point last weekend.

The sequence below is just one snippet of the very many problems they faced against a well-oiled Leicester City.

Note how much time Leicester's defenders and midfielders have to spray passes all day long. It was, at best, an awful imitation of a press. That's a whole minute where Man United never appeared close to regaining possession, the move ending with a shot from Kelechi Iheanacho, who stretched the visitors all kinds of ways all evening.

For their part, egged on by a boisterous crowd, Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City were incredibly incisive, both in their structure and in their press.

According to FBref data via Statsbomb, Man United are 14th in the league for pressures in the attacking third this year. And herein lies the issue.

Man United aren't a terrible pressing team. They aren't one of the best either, but they're far from a Newcastle United. But when you have a static Cristiano Ronaldo up front who bursts into life solely in the box, all the running is left to Bruno Fernandes.

The knock-on effect from that change is that Bruno Fernandes isn't finding himself in the areas he was before. That second striker role he played last season hasn't quite clicked with Ronaldo in the frame.

Elsewhere, Sancho hasn't quite settled in either. The former Dortmund star has shown flashes of his brilliance so far, but in a disjointed, top-heavy team, Sancho has looked lost at times, through no fault of his own.

Here's the thing. If Man United would've opted against the Ronaldo signing, they could've probably shifted Greenwood up top with Cavani for cover, and have Rashford and Sancho on the wing. That setup with Bruno Fernandes just behind Greenwood would've offered the Red Devils far more movement and unpredictability in the build-up and in transition.

Instead, Man United are employing an unsustainable approach with a 36-year-old who is, at this point, strictly a poacher.

Man United already have an imbalance in the way they progress the ball, with most of their ball progression coming from the left. This is understandable since Maguire, Shaw and Pogba all line up on that side of the pitch.

Sancho's signing was meant to address that imbalance to a degree, but when the winger finds himself on the ball, there's precious little movement for him to pick out.

The transition, then, is likely to take a while for the former Dortmund superstar. He is a bonafide talent, which means he will set the league alight. But until that time comes, the Red Devils will be wasting his talent, all in favour of an ageing Ronaldo who offers such little outside the box.

It's an approach that hamstrung Pirlo's Juventus as well. The Bianconeri didn't put up much of a fight this summer, did they?

It's all a little too familiar now for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side. The midfield is porous and regularly overrun, which leaves the centre-backs exposed, which leaves David de Gea with too much to do.

The ceiling of the talent at Solskjaer's disposal means United will win the odd game despite being outplayed. At this level, though, three years into the OGS project with so much talent, the need of the hour is cohesion, structure and dominance, rather than hero-ball.

It doesn't all boil down to Ronaldo. But Portugal's record goalscorer is the white elephant in the red half of Manchester. Until Solskjaer addresses that problem and upgrades his coaching staff, the Red Devils' Rorschach test will keep looking like a man licking a tree and hoping for maple syrup.

Image courtesy: Man United Twitter