Sort out the Rooney and Van Persie speculation

Moyes had to deal with the whole Wayne Rooney transfer saga as soon as he took over in the summer: He said Rooney was staying, and he did. Now he is having to respond to rumours that Robin van Persie wants to leave.

Moyes came out after the Newcastle game and said that was "nonsense" and I believe him, but those stories are not going to just go away. With Rooney, United also still need to sort out his contract, which ends in the summer of 2015. I am sure they will give him a new deal because, with the form he is in, there is no way they are going to let him leave - but they need to send out a message that their best two players are happy and staying at the club. Clearly Moyes needs both of them, especially with his lack of creativity in midfield. Alan Shearer made a fantastic point on Match of the Day on Saturday night when he pointed out how, with Rooney suspended against Newcastle, Van Persie had to drop deep to get on the ball. When he did that, Van Persie played a fantastic long diagonal ball to set up Javier Hernandez for a shot but what should be happening is that somebody should be playing that pass to Van Persie. The bottom line is that there is not enough quality in United's midfield to hit that sort of ball.

Compare it to last season's home game against the Magpies, on Boxing Day, when United were again without Rooney and had Van Persie and Hernandez up front - but had Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick in their midfield, not Tom Cleverley and Jones.

A year ago, Van Persie touched the ball 10 times in the Newcastle area, had six shots and scored once. This time he only touched it twice in the Magpies box and his only effort at goal was the header he had ruled out for offside.

United also came from behind three times to win 4-3 on that day. They never looked like doing anything similar on Saturday.