COMMENT: Manchester United. High noon at the King Power stadium. That wasn't a performance from a title winner. Not even a contender. Instead, it encapsulated why Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team will continue to fall short in the games that matter...

It's simple. Easy. The basics of the game. These United players cannot keep the ball. They have the ability. The technique. But whether it be natural or coached, the will just isn't there.

Going into Saturday's 2-2 draw, Nemanja Matic nailed it right. Without the fans. Without that crack in the atmosphere. These half-paced, bounce games are blending one into the other, "They all look like carbon copies of each other resembling training sessions with no fans in the stadiums," and Saturday was no different. Barely the competitive edge of a modern day Community Shield kickabout (the days of Keegan and Bremner now long gone), United twice had the lead - and twice, inevitably, gave it up.

And we say inevitably, because with their carelessness in possession it was always going to happen. These aren't players whom aggressively, ruthlessly protect the ball. There's no Mark Hughes in this line-up. Nor Roy Keane or Eric Cantona. As great as they were with a football, they were also nasty, nasty sods when it came to holding onto the thing. They weren't pretty like the great Barcelona or Juventus teams of their day. But they still managed to treasure and protect the ball when in possession. And when they did lose it, it rarely happened in their defensive third.

But this United team? They lose possession so often and in such dangerous areas that it's not even pored over by pundits as a mistake. It's just the stuff of the modern day Manchester United player. And it happened again at Leicester on Saturday.

This time it was Bruno Fernandes at fault. With United a goal up and close to halftime, Fernandes tried - halfheartedly - to nutmeg Wilf Ndidi on the edge of his own penalty area. It was the stuff of Paul Pogba at his worst. That the focus in the aftermath was on Scott McTominay and Eric Bailly for failing - apparently - to close down Harvey Barnes before he fired home tells you everything about the expectations around this United team.

Pogba, of course, also had his moment. Off the bench in the second-half. Again with United leading. The Frenchman, with his fresh legs, saw Ayoze Perez free inside United's penalty area. But rather than dart goal-side of the Spaniard to at least give him some trouble with his cross, Pogba lifted his arm, pointed to no-one and kept jogging on the spot. Perez's low dart would be scrambled home by Jamie Vardy via Axel Tuanzebe for the host's second equaliser of the day. Pogba wasn't being lazy with his actions. It wasn't a show of poor attitude. He just doesn't have it in him. The natural reaction to get back goal-side of a loose man just isn't there.

And it's that poor decision-making - on and off the ball - which will continue to hold United back. Protecting possession. Defensive positioning. They're some of the fundamentals of the game. Great United teams of the past were built on them. But they're some of the basics that this team lack.

United players celebrate their opening goal at Leicester scored by Marcus Rashford (10)

Across the globe. On the other side of the world. There's hope United have found a player with these necessary qualities - plus a few good more.

Moises Caicedo, Independiente del Valle's newly capped Ecuador international is said to be on his way to United for New Year's Day. Now, this column includes that said qualifier, as there's nothing coming out of Carrington at the moment about any imminent deal. And as far as people at Independiente are concerned, yes Caicedo is likely to be sold to a European club in January, but whether that be United, Chelsea or the confirmed interest of Feyenoord, no-one - again for the moment - are letting on.

But let's assume United do have something in place and Caicedo will arrive on January 1. Well, the first thing to say is we're not talking about a Facundo Pellistri or Amad Diallo project player here. Caicedo - at 19 - will join United as a senior Ecuador international. A first-choice from Independiente and a veteran of the Copa Libertadores. Whether or not it's a rush job before the Mickey Mouse Brexit points system is introduced, Caicedo won't be arriving as an U23 prospect. He'll be expecting first team football this season - and plenty of it.

Gustavo Alfaro, Ecuador's much-travelled national team coach, has no doubts about Caicedo as a player for the here-and-now. Having first capped the youngster in October, Alfaro says the teen plays like someone ten years his senior.

"When I started to watch him he had played a game and a half in the first team (with Independiente)," recalls Alfaro. "And I said, 'heck, this kid has things of a 27, 28-year-old, not an 18-year-old player'… I think Moises was called up to the national team with nine games in the first division. Now, when am I going to summon Moises Caicedo? When he's 24? No, if he is 18 years old, I still see him mature and in training I talked to him, I asked him for the things he has to do and he does them well in training, so I threw him on the field!"

Caicedo's debut was made in a World Cup qualifying defeat to Lionel Messi's Argentina - in Buenos Aries. And as Alfaro says, the youngster did not look out of place.

"It is not a question of age. I said 'look where Messi is, you're not going to ask him for a picture, kick him and throw him a pibe later, but look at his shirt and play in the same way, and if things go wrong, the responsibility is mine'," continued Alfaro. "But when you see that class, because I have had to put a lot of boys in first grade, I felt that he was already prepared."

Much of that preparation is thanks to Caicedo's Spanish coach at Independiente, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, who followed him up from the club's academy.

The former Alaves and Las Palmas youth boss says: "Moises understands the game, he has grown a lot in his interpretation since he arrived in the first team.

"Playing deeper has helped his progress. He has developed the last pass and has encouraged himself to get into the area more - to score a goal. I think it empowers him to play positional football. With other systems he may not develop his qualities as much. In this model, he plays and executes almost always well. He knows what the game demands at all times."

So, if the deal goes through, United could have a world-beater on their hands. And a player who has stated "I want to play for Manchester United", though his hero is attached to one English club further south, "My reference is N'Golo Kanté. He is a great footballer and moves around the field".

N'Golo Kante. Not one to cough up possession in silly areas. Nor a player to be caught the wrong side of an opponent. Given Saturday's performance, should Moises Caicedo arrive in the New Year, he could be just what this Manchester United team is crying out for.