Derby defeat won’t be the end for Ole!
IF there is a derby to lose, it is today’s.
If that sounds like something Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could say in defeat then it is because of all of the hundreds of games as a player and manager at Old Trafford, the absolute zenith came in the March derby.
A cacophony of whistles turned to the most jubilant cheers when Scott McTominay’s caressed curler sent the ball into the vacant Stretford End net in the 96th minute.
Pep Guardiola immediately shook Solskjaer’s hand and the Reds boss peered through the blinding floodlights to pinpoint his family.
Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes embraced, McTominay kissed the badge and stewards restrained matchgoers from spilling onto the pitch.
United had clinched their first domestic derby double in 10 years.
“I’ve not seen Old Trafford like this too many times,” Gary Neville bellowed, presumably having just contained himself from toppling over the gantry.
‘Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole’ reverberated around the stadium and the wall in the old tunnel between the dugouts – the only surviving relic from before the Second World War – was in danger of crumbling amid the din.
Today’s derby is bound to be the most hollow in living memory and United’s Champions League exit barely intensifies its importance. If they lose, the worst case scenario is they will be eight points off the Premier League summit with a game in hand. Few are convinced they are championship challengers.
City will go above United with a win but, unless they prevail by a margin akin to 2011’s 6-1 or the 5-1 at Maine Road in 1989, the expectation is Solskjaer will be in the Bramall Lane dugout on Thursday.
Defeat would be most significant for United in that they have not lost four home league games before Christmas since 1972. The fourth – to Stoke – represented Frank O’Farrell’s last in charge at Old Trafford, a week before the infamous 5-0 hammering at Crystal Palace and Sir
Matt Busby approaching Tommy Docherty to replace O’Farrell in the Selhurst Park boardroom.
Today is not the first time United have gone into a derby on the back of European elimination. City fans tossed Turkish Delight bars at them at Maine Road in 1993, four days after their exit to Galatasaray. The first derby at what was then known as the City of Manchester Stadium in 2004 came after Jose Mourinho’s touchline dash following Costinha’s decider for Porto at Old Trafford. Solskjaer, the last United scorer at Maine Road, emerged off the bench in a 4-1 thumping started by Robbie Fowler and crowned by Shaun Wright-Phillips.
In 1993, Alex Ferguson was so disappointed with Ryan Giggs in Turkey he named him on the bench at Maine Road. He replaced Andrei Kanchelskis in the second half and,
Unless they lose by a margin akin to 2011’s 6-1, Solskjaer will be in the Bramall Lane dugout on Thursday
with his first touch, ingeniously halfvolleyed an assist for Eric Cantona’s equaliser.
Solskjaer elicited a resounding response from the benched Paul Pogba in midweek and, however unedifying his agent’s conduct continues to be, poorer players have got away without demotions this season.
David de Gea cannot be countenanced any longer and neither can the Harry Maguire-Victor Lindelof axis. The pair were pulled from left to right and right to left like pinballs in a puzzle by RB Leipzig.
Dean Henderson and Axel Tuanzebe, FA Youth Cup teammates six years ago, are overdue uninterrupted runs.
Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were withdrawn late on in Leipzig, as though they should be certain of starting against City.
Wan-Bissaka is devoid of a credible competitor at right-back but that does not mean Solskjaer should persevere with a player who was rinsed by the City loanee Angelino, a player who was tormented by United at the Etihad last year.
Fred has to be recalled for the creaking Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani has bullied better defenders than John Stones. Overlooking Pogba would be the principled choice and the midfield troika of Fred, McTominay and Fernandes is United’s best, though starting Pogba would not necessarily represent an act of desperation.
Especially with no-one in the Stretford End to cheer or jeer him.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Nemanja Matic have struggled recently