I agree with Beboq and also partly agree with Gerd. It's obvious that now and then Mutd has played brilliant football, but overall, I think Mutd resembles a lot Real Madrid in the last 15 years. They both win by knockout, by sheer power and raw abilities, not by dominating the opponent and by creative skills, to say something. I don't mean they don't have them! They are great teams that play better than most of the teams. But if we are to compare big teams and how they approach to victory, they don't put the accent there, on creativity, but on power.
Some will love this kind of direct approach to the game, some won't. It's a matter of tastes. Obviously, being from Barcelona, I've been used to another conception of football, by having the ball, moving, passing and trying to make football a nice thing. It's not more "valid" or "better", it's simply the style every person will like. Arsenal plays a very similar game, as did the Sacchi's Milan, Michels Ajax and the 60s and 80s Real Madrid.
I've said many times in the Barcelona thread that Ronaldo will never be half the player Messi is because of that. Messi has vision, creativity, skill and the ability to do unexpected things. Cristiano is sheer power. I understand some people will like one over the other, but in my personal conception of football, what makes Messi the greatest is the same that makes me enjoy an Arsenal match a lot more than any Mutd match I've seen in the last 2 to 3 years. It's a matter of tastes.