United show they are far from being re-Bourne under Ole
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer vainly handed Jesse Lingard a sheet of paper with instructions as he went on as a substitute as the Reds searched for an equaliser. They are having problems getting their message across at United.
The Old Trafford boss and his staff regularly have to tell players where and how to play. One would think little of it if United were serial championship challengers. It has taken just two weeks for the latest bubble of optimism to be burst by Bournemouth’s beanpole artisans.
This was not a reality check for the Reds. Bournemouth, unbeaten at home, is not a gimme and it takes little for this United side to flirt with disaster.
The travelling supporters chanted Solskjaer’s name repeatedly as he approached them at full-time. There will never be a day where he will fear trudging over to the away fans following a defeat.
The players followed him, too. There was hand clasping aplenty. United had not lacked for effort but there was little effect. Players have been operating above their brief and some areas of the squad are of a mid-table standard.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s attacking positioning was endemic of the United team’s callowness. Whereas Ashley Young was in line with the 18-yard box, Wan-Bissaka was nearer the halfway line.
The £45m full-back was hooked instead of the 34-year-old makeshift full-back for Brandon Williams in the dying embers of the game.
United have failed to score at West Ham, Newcastle and now Bournemouth. For all their attacking shortcomings, the defence Solskjaer insists has been repaired is still so porous. Victor Lindelof again did nothing to disprove Jose Mourinho’s assertion that heading is not his forte and Harry Maguire was at times fighting a one-man aerial battle.
Young simply recommended they communicate. It was lacking for
Josh King’s adroit finish that sent Lindelof towards the wrong goal, his movement as comically timed as Buster Keaton.
The clocks have gone back and the Swede continues to go backwards. He is fortunate Axel Tuanzebe and Eric Bailly are frequent visitors to the physio’s room at the moment, for Lindelof is often blameworthy for opposition goals and caught on his heels.
Solskjaer is lucid to United’s attacking shortcomings and the supreme stroll at Norwich was merely an anomaly. At Bournemouth, United players repeatedly sought out Daniel James on the right, where he has already made immense strides since starting his full debut on that flank at Wolves in August.
That in itself is a regression to recent months, where the 21-year-old who failed to break into the Shrewsbury side this time two years ago, was the sole
United have failed to score at West Ham, Newcastle and now Bournemouth
Samuel Luckhurst
respectable performer. United ask too much of James already.
Solskjaer was as icy as the weather amid appeals for a first-half penalty and the melee that ensued following Anthony Martial’s tumble, perhaps because the Reds boss suspected United would spurn the spotkick! It was neither a foul nor a dive, despite the cries of ‘cheat.’ They were louder in greeting King’s virtuoso volley on the stroke of the interval.
United had ample time to react, but were a shadow of the fluid force at Carrow Road. The interchanging that was incessant six days ago was inconspicuous at Bournemouth.
James and Rashford, the constant thorns, were restricted on the flanks and central figures Martial and Pereira were too fixed. James and Rashford troubled Chelsea and Liverpool as split strikers but the downgrade at the Vitality Stadium was perverse and Solskjaer’s tactical acumen was absent. Bournemouth showed United how it was done; Harry Wilson and Ryan Fraser dovetailed for the cross King trapped and buried for the winner.
Pereira is an inadequate playmaker for United but his selection against the elite has merit in that his energy off the ball tires opponents – a backhander without the compliment for a supposed No.10.
Demoralisingly for United, Pereira was the first player who belatedly drew a worthy save from the Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Even James was guilty of staying too fixed to the flank when he should have made a far post run for a Young delivery.
Inexplicably, the Reds placed an emphasis on width as they chased the game against beanpole opponents who appeared cumbersome and cynical whenever faced with pace.
Almost by accident, the substitute Mason Greenwood volleyed an 81stminute cross he never expected to meet against the post.
Solskjaer failed to get his message across.