Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign as Manchester United‘s permanent manager began with an unconvincing 2-1 victory over Watford on Saturday.
Despite winning, the home side were often on the back foot and, playing away from home against Wolves on Tuesday, they’ll have to dig deep to improve.
Here are our talking points for the game.
UNITED PLAYERS NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
Solskjaer said that the atmosphere in the dressing room after Saturday’s win resembled that of a funeral, with players recognising that they hadn’t played well. Left-back Luke Shaw, who was their outstanding performer, publicly said the second half had been “awful”.
So, clearly they know they weren’t good enough. The question is, what can they do about it? The Watford performance came on the back of two straight losses before the international break, so this team hasn’t been in top form for around a month at the very least. If they were affected by rust in the weekend game, that excuse is gone now.
Ander Herrera, in the middle of contract negotiations, and Nemanja Matic were poor in midfield, which had a knock-on effect on Paul Pogba – not to let the Frenchman off the hook for another below-par display. Those three, especially, need to take more responsibility for their performances and lift United.
Luke Shaw on Man Utd's 2-1 win vs. Watford: “I’ll speak the truth and I think the boys will speak the truth that we were awful in the second-half.” pic.twitter.com/fOuhLuvz7I
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) March 30, 2019
POTENTIAL POGBA CHANGE COULD VINDICATE MOURINHO
Speaking of Pogba, another point Solskjaer made after the Watford game was how he might have to adjust the 26-year-old’s role in his XI. After seeing his side barely able to keep possession against a team sitting at eighth in the Premier League table before the game, the Norwegian said he would consider playing Pogba in a deeper role, getting United’s best playmaker on the ball as often as possible.
Quite what Jose Mourinho makes of all this is a tantalising question. After all, it was being made to play in a deeper role more often than he would have liked that led to Pogba clashing with his former manager.
Perhaps Pogba will be more accommodating for Solskjaer, and adapt to United’s requirements for now. But it does raise the question about whether Mourinho was right about the midfielder and the limitations of the rest of this squad.
Ole: “Against Watford he (Pogba) had to drop down to get a hold of the ball. Every single game is going to be different until the end of the season. We haven’t really nailed down one way of playing. That’s the beauty of Paul that he can do both.” #mufc [Standard]
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) March 31, 2019
HOW DO WOLVES PRIORITISE?
If things always went to plan, it would be United worrying about a midweek game before an FA Cup semi-final. But Wolves’ triumph over Solskjaer’s side in the quarter-final reverses the question.
As much as they would like another win against United, there’s no doubt which is the bigger game. Wolves were last in the last four over 20 years ago, haven’t been in a cup final since the 1980 League Cup, and last reached the FA Cup final in 1960.
There’s also the allure of finishing seventh, which could mean a European spot. And a loss on Tuesday would mean they go into the semi-final on the back of two straight defeats after Saturday’s loss to Burnley – hardly the best form.
Nuno Espirito Santo probably never thought these were the choices he’d be weighing up in April, testament to Wolves’ excellent season. But now, he has to ensure it doesn’t all fizzle out.
“Everything becomes harder and it’s something that we can avoid. This is the part of the growing process of the team.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 31, 2019
🎥💬 pic.twitter.com/SFpquYoFZb
