Players who would benefit from Ole exit
THESE are hugely testing times for both United and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Sunday’s 5-0 battering at the hands of Liverpool at Old Trafford was a new low for both the club and the Norwegian, meaning both are now under intense pressure to turn things around.
For the Reds, time will always be there. Unfortunately for Solskjaer, it won’t be. He is under enormous pressure from both the club and growing numbers of supporters, meaning Saturday’s trip to north London to face Tottenham Hotspur could easily be described as the biggest game of his managerial career.
Failure to get a positive result in north London could bring the curtain down on Solskjaer’s tenure.
If United were forced to send Solskjaer packing and the hunt for his replacement began, who could be the biggest winners from a change from within United’s current firstteam squad?
Here, M.E.N. Sport has picked out four players who could benefit from a fresh face taking the club forward.
AARON WAN-BISSAKA
Signed from Crystal Palace for an initial fee of £45m in June 2019, big things were instantly expected of the right-back, despite his tender age.
Although he has shown signs of promise and maturity to be United’s first choice right-back from a very young age, question marks still remain over certain attributes within his armoury, particularly his attacking output, although he has also been caught out defensively in recent weeks.
Capable of bombing forward from right-back with his pace, his desire to get forward can sometimes leave the Reds open down their right side, as proven against Liverpool on Sunday, with their opening goal extending from some smart play down their left.
Antonio Conte is understood to be open to replacing Solskjaer if United decide to make a change, meaning a formation change to a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3, just as the Italian did at Chelsea, could suit Wan-Bissaka’s style of play.
The 23-year-old is a hugely talented and promising individual, but you just get the feeling that he could do with a fresh voice ringing in his ears at this moment in time.
DONNY VAN DE BEEK
Nobody would benefit more from a change in the Old Trafford managerial hot-seat than Van de Beek, surely? The Dutchman’s time at United has been miserable and has now reached a stage where you cannot help but feel sorry for him.
Signed for an initial fee of £35m in September last year, the midfielder has been restricted to just 39 appearances in all competitions since. To highlight just how often he has been overlooked, his tally of just six minutes worth of Premier League football so far this season tells you all you need to know.
Admittedly, United are blessed in the central-midfield department. They have an array of quality, both defensively and offensively, and Solskjaer cannot pick everyone. But if something isn’t working, you tend to try something different.
Van de Beek has had barely any opportunities to prove his worth this season. Yes, Solskjaer sees him day-in, day-out on the training ground, but a player of his talents deserves more.
He was excellent at Ajax, prompting United to sign him, but he has not been given so much of a sniff to prove his worth on these shores. A change in management could be his only hope of saving his United career.
Nobody would benefit more from a change of manager than Van de Beek, surely? George Smith
PAUL POGBA
Out-of-contract at Old Trafford in less than a year’s time, what the future will hold for Pogba is anyone’s guess.
The Frenchman, who was sent
off against Liverpool, has implied that he will not make a decision until the end of the season, although United, for several months, have wanted to get him tied down and the problem resolved.
Could a change in management, perhaps in the coming weeks or months, influence his decision? Quite possibly. He has been in and out of the team of late, finding himself on the bench for each of United’s last two games, with club legend Paul Scholes, speaking last week, suggesting that it was Solskjaer’s lack of ‘trust’ in him that was the problem.
JESSE LINGARD
Just like with Van de Beek, United’s large volume of options in midfield has impacted Lingard’s chances of nailing down a regular starting berth at United this season.
Inspired by his sensational loan spell at West Ham United earlier this year, Lingard, after it was confirmed he would be staying at Old Trafford, would have hoped to have seen more opportunities presented to him than he has received. Of his seven appearances, only one of them has been from the start.
Yes, Bruno Fernandes is ahead of him in the pecking order for the No.10 position, but what has the Portuguese star done in recent weeks to retain that place? Not much. Lingard was not rewarded for scoring the winner against West Ham at the London Stadium, neither was he for finding the net against Newcastle United a week earlier.
His form warranted a Premier League start and it never arrived, again raising questions about whether he would be better off with a new man in charge.