Evans help poor Ole. Just like Roy he is in a losing fight against coaching geniuses

YOU can sense when the pressure around a manager is moving up a notch or two.

Disgruntled fans on social media become more vocal, former players and managers question team selections, star men mutter discontent as they leave the pitch, journalists lament how, with the amount of money spent, the team has become a soft touch, bookies’ odds shorten and broadcasters salivate over a tough upcoming fixture schedule that could see them covering the defeat that brings down the curtain.

That’s happening to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer right now but the reality is he won’t be sacked any time soon. And when his Manchester United side sit on the same points as title favourites Manchester City, and his summer buys are still bedding in, why should he be?

Plus there is no available manager ticking all the Old Trafford boxes.

Antonio Conte has the title-winning track record but the board see him, in terms of playing style and character, as a potential throwback to failed autocrats Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.

Doubts grow though, as Solskjaer approaches his third anniversary in charge, that he has what it takes to turn United into

English champions. Despite signing Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer, Gary Neville said he couldn’t see his old club winning the title because they still lacked something.

Maybe if Ole wasn’t an old mate he’d have said what everyone else was thinking.

That the Norwegian is not in the same class as his three Champions League-winning rivals in that top four. That when it comes to making inspired decisions at key moments he lacks the talent and experience of Pep Guardiola, Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp. We saw it on Saturday when Rafa Benitez gave him an education in a 1-1 draw that could so easily have turned into a hurtful defeat.

Imagine if the dugout roles had been reversed, with Benitez coaching United’s all-star squad and Solskjaer in charge of an Everton one lacking Seamus Coleman, Andre Gomes, Alex Iwobi, Richarlison and Dominic Calvertlewin, which had had the grand sum of £1.7million spent on it this summer. It could have been embarrassing.

Instead Solskjaer’s weekend merely turned out to be sobering. As Ronaldo threw a strop, and Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand questioned his selection and tactics, Benitez gave him a masterclass in both arts.

And the following day at Anfield his two biggest rivals staged an exhilarating battle which showed the very high bar he has to clear to fulfil his job description and land the title. Over the next few seasons, up against probably the three best managers in world football, that will be the toughest of calls.

I’ve always seen strong parallels between Solskjaer (right) and Roy Evans (left). The decent football man, respected as the finest of club servants, who Liverpool drafted in to bring stability, but who perhaps wasn’t strong enough to tell his board who to sign, deal with the dressing-room egos or nail tactical discipline.

Evans was no mug. He brought through young talent and made the Reds better prepared for eventual glory. In his four full seasons in charge he always kept them in the top four and took them to cup finals but never had what it took to get past coaching giants like Ferguson or Arsene Wenger. The more I see of Solskjaer, the more I see Evans.

The only differences being that Solskjaer has yet to win a cup and Evans was given four-and-a-half years to prove he could out-perform the coaching geniuses above him who were lifting the trophies that mattered.

I would be amazed if Solskjaer is given that long.