SOLSKJAER STYLE NOT TOO CLEVER
AS OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER walked along the Vicarage Road touchline to face his firing squad of post-match interviews, he playfully ruffled the hair of Tom Cleverley as his former player spoke to the press.
“See you later, Tom,” he said with a smile.
You cannot imagine Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho acting with such composure as a condemned man.
But then you cannot envisage teams led by such managerial heavyweights suffering such painful punishment at Watford – or then being told to get back to basics and play more “unfashionable football” by Cleverley after he had run the midfield.
This final afternoon summed up the personal strengths and tactical limitations of a decent man who found himself out of his depth and a figure of ridicule.
His shambolic Manchester United team could have conceded six and ended up with nine players. He was booed by the away support as he offered his post-match applause and apologies – and behaved with class and calmness in the aftermath before he was finally put out of his misery yesterday.
And how this disjointed multimillion pound squad desperately needs a new voice and direction.
Scott Mctominay should have been booked for giving away an early penalty, twice saved by David De Gea from Ismaila Sarr.
After being booked Mctominay was hooked at half-time, by which time Sarr had made amends with the second goal after Josh King’s opener.
Donny van de Beek, who personifies the muddled management at Old Trafford, came on to great applause and hit his first United goal for 14 months.
But after Harry Maguire’s dismissal, sub Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Dennis scored in injury time to complete the humiliation, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo standing with his hands on his hips.
Cleverley, who came through the youth system at Old Trafford while Solskjaer was on the coaching staff, said: “It doesn’t make it extra sweet for me.
“It’s not nice to see some of your old friends struggling.
“We’ve all been there under the pressure, low in confidence, a bit fragile.
“And coming into someone’s hostile ground who start on the front foot is exactly what you don’t want. We could have had more.
“They’re all top players but I think sometimes the basics, the unfashionable football, they ignore that side a little bit.
“And they are saying we were very good, but I’m sure it’ll get talked about how flat they were. I think, moving forward, they need to add that side to their game.”
Solskjaer passed Cleverley just as he was asked how he had coped with the pressure at Old Trafford.
“Not very well, to be honest,” he added. “It’s extremely difficult. And that’s why I have massive respect for players that have longevity at the top of the game, like most of their players, because it is extremely hard to come through patches like this.
“I have been at the top there where you are winning every week and confidence is massive.
“Everything’s an extreme. All the players will live in Manchester. You can’t get away from the pressure, the fan comments. It’s not a nice place to be but these guys are the creme de la creme of world football and there because they’ve come through sticky patches in the past.”