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This week many Man United fans will find it hard to pick up a newspaper, let alone go online. Conversely, City fans will be reveling in the back pages and blogs like never before.

Sending offs and subsequently skewed scorelines aside, this was a hugely symbolic result. At one fell swoop, Manchester City well and truly halted the manufacture of gloating banners at Old Trafford.

It remains to be seen whether the baton of Premier League power has really been passed, but the psychological importance of this result cannot be understated. City have finally stepped out of the shadows of their hitherto dominant neighbours and staked a claim to football pre-eminence in Manchester. Things certainly went their way, at critical times in the game, but few would contest the notion that City were the better team on the day.

City followed up their battering of United with another deadly performance in front of goal at Wolves on Wednesday and the train, amply fuelled by Middle Eastern crude, shows no sign of slowing. But what of United?

I for one, have always disliked the reactionary tone of most newspaper sports sections. Only a few weeks back Sir Alex was being lauded for seamlessly introducing a new generation of United superstars. One or two bad results later and the same journos seem to be taking it in turns to scream crisis at Old Trafford.

However, there are obvious problems with the team. On Sunday, Evans looked out of his depth way before the sending off and Rio Ferdinand, the most talented defender of his generation, looked decidedly geriatric in the face of a City attack that displayed the perfect blend of craft and graft.

I’m not the only observer, however, who believes that it isn’t in defence that United are really struggling. The Red Devils still have a group of defenders that will more than cope at the very top level. They were shaky at the weekend but they haven’t been able to field their strongest back five at any stage this season and, when they can, things will surely solidify.

No, the real problem lies in the midfield. For one so astute over the last quarter of a century, it seems almost unbelievable that the manager has overlooked the problems in the engine room for so very long.

Anderson showed great form at the beginning of the season but has been culpable, more recently, for countless midfield mistakes. On Sunday he looked as if he had been out on the sauce until 5am the previous night. He is young however and can recover from this. The real problem, in my opinion, is the manager’s blind faith in Darren Fletcher.

Despite his goal at the weekend, he is simply too slow for a team of United’s aspirations. You can debate the fact that The Reds were numerically outnumbered in midfield but, even in the first 20 minutes of United possession they lacked the requisite penetration because they didn’t move the ball around the midfield quickly or progressively enough. Time and again Fletcher misplaced passes or simply played too safe. With him in the team United will never be truly slick. With Fletcher present in the side United too frequently win games by slogging it out. Fletcher is physically slow and leggy and doesn’t have the vision to dominate games at the top level. The idea that Untied would have beaten Barcelona in 2009 with Fletcher in the team (as many suggested) is utterly ridiculous. In my opinion he has always been massively overrated by Ferguson and, sadly for supporters, his goal against City may prolong his tenure in the team.

Barcelona win games not because they have a destroyer in the side but because their midfield seldom cedes possession. You don’t need a ball winner when you don’t give the ball away. It’s clearly not easy to find players of the quality of Xavi and Iniesta but surely Fergie needs to break the bank to find footballers with the same sort of qualities. It may well be the case that United simply can’t afford to get them in, but it’s not hard to see that any two of Sniejder, Modric and Schweinsteiger would bring United back to the fore.

In the short term Carrick, regardless of his doubters, is a far better bet than Fergie’s countryman Fletcher. He is a modern footballer who understands the importance of speedy one and two touch football. He too may be overly cautious at times, but he has the speed of thought and feet to keep United’s game flowing. He realises the importance of giving the ball to the most creative players quickly. Tom Cleverley is more mobile and probably better than both of the aforementioned and his reintroduction to the team cannot come soon enough. It was no coincidence that Anderson looked a better player with the forward thinking and selfless Englishman beside him.

A huge number of United supporters went into this season with apprehension about the lack of investment in the centre of the park. In recent weeks this fear has been painfully realised. If United don’t buy some passmasters soon they will surely be second best more often than not in the games that really matter at the business end of the season.

United aren’t in crisis. They don’t need to change their formation. The wingers work when they have quality service but they were marginalised at the weekend because they didn’t get enough of the ball from the middle of the park. The defense will still be the envy of Europe at the end of the season and they have top strikers. They just need to address that midfield area. Ship out Fletcher and rotate Carrick, Cleverley and Anderson until the transfer window opens. But, sooner rather than later, Fergie must address this patent playmaker paucity.