Nuno and Solskjaer set for sack race
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer is likely to be in charge for Manchester United’s game against Tottenham on Saturday, despite pressure mounting on the manager due to a run of poor results.
The next three games against Tottenham, Atalanta and Manchester City are vital for Solskjaer’s future, however is far from ideal for the under-fire boss, but not for the reasons you might think.
A loss would be catastrophic. Tottenham have been in awful form so far this season, with Harry Kane a shadow of his usual self, scoring one goal in eight league appearances.
Against West Ham United,
Tottenham were unable to register a shot on target in the second half and looked devoid of any creativity. If Solskjaer was to lose to this Spurs team, the Nuno Espirito Santo version, it would most likely mean there is no coming back.
A result would like prove a stay of execution, another one, and Solskjaer can look forward to the next few games knowing that he would be in the dugout.
In terms of trying new tactics and changing the style of play, to get United out of a rut, then Spurs would also be the wrong time to experiment.
‘Nuno-ball,’ as it has been dubbed, has seen Solskjaer come unstuck in the past, it is oppressive and stagnant and stops any creativity from the opposing team.
United fans will most likely want to forget in 2019 when Nuno’s Wolves team knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win, then only a few weeks later beat the team again in the Premier League 2-1.
They will cut off all supply to Cristiano Ronaldo and, as we’ve seen in the past few games, when Ronaldo gets isolated he becomes frustrated and ineffective.
Solskjaer would quickly have to learn how to beat the low block, something he hasn’t been able to do in the past, while also contending with the risk that any point they could be on the end of a counter from Heung-min Son
and Kane.They will allow United control of the game but this will be because they want the opposition to waste their possession trying to pass around their very solid and defined lines, this may trick Solskjaer and United into thinking that they have solved their issues with having control of the ball in possession when really it is the opponent rather than the tactic.
Overall, the game is going to be hard-fought at best and boring at worse, and no matter the result it will not re-inspire confidence in Solskjaer’s management nor will it calm any doubts in the board’s mind about whether Solskjaer is the right man to take the club forward in the long term.
But as long as Solskjaer is still the manager, we must support him and hope he can make the most of Tottenham’s bad run of form and makes steps to correct United’s mistakes over the past few weeks, if not for himself but for the manager that will replace him if the board decide to make a change because deep down we all know he wants United to succeed.