21 DAYS, SEVEN GAMES AND SIX HUGE PROBLEMS FOR SOLSKJAER
Coming on the back of a 6-1 defeat to Spurs and a tricky international break, this difficult spell could decide the future of the United boss... and it will be tough
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER faces seven games in 21 days that will decide his Manchester United future.
The Reds are currently 16th in the Premier League, after a wretched start to the new season which has seen them lose their opening two home games, including a 6-1 humiliation by Tottenham. As well as the pressure mounting on him personally, Solskjaer has a pile of problems to address if he is to keep his job, with the spectre of Mauricio Pochettino looming large over him. United playmaker Bruno Fernandes was forced to publicly deny he had lost faith in Solskjaer amid allegations of a dressing-room row following his withdrawal at half-time against Spurs.
Then there is the woeful form of United skipper Harry Maguire, whose troubled start to the season continued with his red card for England in the 1-0 Nations League defeat to Denmark.
Striker Anthony Martial starts a three-match domestic ban tomorrow, but Solskjaer cannot call upon new signing Edinson Cavani, as he is still isolating following his deadline day arrival from Paris. Add to that
Paul Pobga’s latest public flirting with Real Madrid, the ongoing concern over David De Gea’s form and whether to drop him for Dean Henderson, and Solskjaer’s in-tray is overflowing.
The tough run of fixtures before the next international break will test United’s public backing of Solskjaer, with forme r Spurs boss Pochettino still available.
Tomor row’s Premier League visit to Newcastle is followed by a Champ ions League tie away to Paris SaintGermain in the
Champions League next Tuesday. United then face Chelsea, RB Leipzig, Arsenal, Turkish champs Istanbul Basaksehir and in-form Everton.
If Solskjaer cannot spark an upturn in results and performances, the pressure on him will build, with the lure of Pochettino likely to be too hard to resist for Ed Woodward and the Glazers.
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have all been shown the door before him, and Solskjaer faces arguably
the biggest test of his tenure to ensure he does not go the same way. That it was Mourinho, the man he replaced, who inflicted United’s heaviest defeat for nine years, only added to the pressure on Solskjaer.
The Norwegian knows the next set of results will determine his future. It remains to be seen if he has the courage to take Maguire out of the line of fire, giving him the break he clearly needs, following a turbulent time on and off the field.
Maguire’s holiday from hell in Mykonos, where he was convicted of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and attempted bribery – all of which he has appealed – has clearly left his mind scrambled. But with so few rel iable defensive alternatives, Solskjaer is likely to keep faith with Maguire and let him play through his personal crisis, to try to rediscover his form and emerge stronger from his ordeal.
England coach Gareth Southgate believes playing on is the best option for Maguire, rather than taking time away to clear his head of the demons that are currently plaguing him.
But Maguire remains a problem symptomatic of United’s current malaise, one which threatens to engulf Solskjaer and claim another managerial victim of the postSir Alex Ferguson era.