By Daniel Ghorbal @GhorbalDan
“Go and do that against Liverpool on Sunday, see what happens” are the words of United legend and serial winner Paul Scholes reflecting on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United following their dramatic 3-2 victory against Atalanta on Wednesday night. A show of character and resilience, yes, but the cracks are being papered over by some moments of quality in the final third.
Liverpool travel to Old Traford this Sunday in what will be undoubtedly be a game littered with fierce tackles, quality attacking play and pressure. Pressure on Solskjaer to deliver a performance that fans of United have been waiting for. Scholes’ comments reflect the current state of affairs at Old Trafford, a team labelled as an ‘odd bunch’ by Gary Neville who rely upon moments of individual brilliance to claw them back in games.
When the fixtures were drew, a spell starting in mid October including games against Leicester, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and City were identified as being United’s tough stage in the season, but the expectation was that points would be on the board already at a premium rate. Unfortunately for Solsjkaer, he has not delivered with United winless in 3 league games whilst also crashing out of the League cup, so what has been going wrong?
A team flooded with exceptional players, Man United have the capability to wipe the floor with anyone on their day. The acquisitions of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo were expected to take the Red Devils to a new level, bringing in a raft of trophy winning pedigree, youthful exuberance and big names.
Thus far, things have failed to properly ignite. Sancho’s talent is unique and one which will almost certainly spark into life soon, but the former Dortmund man is struggling for rhythm and an extended period in the side to prove his worth. Parallel’s are already being drawn to the situation involving Donny Van de Beek and his tenure at Manchester United.
Although different in positions and general significance to the side, the Dutchman was signed with high expectations from Ajax but has been unable to stake a claim in the first team set up. Staggeringly, it is United’s midfield that seems to receive the most criticism and therefore the lack of inclusion for Van de Beek stirs rumours that there is a problem at the top with Solskjaer.
Against Liverpool, it is vital that United get the midfield set up spot on. With 4 or 5 options in the centre of the park, Ole simply must deliver a balance which can deal with the buoyant nature of Fabinho and Henderson amongst others, whilst also selecting players that have the capability to spring defence into attack efficiently.
PREDICTED LINE UP
Going forward, United have no issues from a chance creation point of view. The return of Marcus Rashford has come at a vital time for the club, the inspirational winger has already scored 2 in his first 2 appearances of the season and has a great track record against Trent Alexander-Arnold. Although it is important to nurture his injury, unleashing him into the side against Liverpool is a narrative in the making.
As a local lad and huge fan of the club, he will know what this game means and drive his team forward. Similarly, Mason Greenwood on the opposite flank is a player Liverpool have to be alert to. Greenwood’s instinctive nature in front of goal is second to none and comparisons are being drawn to Robin Van Persie, one of the greatest goal scorers the Premier League has seen.
His finish against Leicester last weekend was the shining light in what was a worrying day for United, but in tight marginal games such as the one that is potentially coming on Sunday, his precision when a sight of the goal is made available is admirable.
Solsjkaer will know that Liverpool have being purring recently and he will know that the perfect performance from Klopp’s men is not very far away at all. Finding a plan to stop Mohamed Salah whilst also keeping Mane and Firmino quiet will prove whether he has what it takes at the highest level of management.
United’s defensive setup in recent fixtures has been nothing short of abysmal and it is absolutely vital that the basic defensive attributes are stuck to from the first whistle to the last. Counter-attacking in the manner that saw them impressively finish 2nd whilst going a full season unbeaten away from home needs to be the plan again here, and whether or not the 11 players selected on the day can deliver this is yet to be seen.
By Daniel Ghorbal @GhorbalDan
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