No Blind faith for United in current form
Danny Bl ind ins i st s Manchester United have no identity and tactical plan under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and have lost their way since Cristiano Ronaldo’s return.
The father of former United star Daley, who is No.2 to former Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal with Hol land , is adamant Solksjaer must change tack.
Blind said: “What is the identity of this Manchester United team? What is his plan? It is exactly what is missing with Solskjaer.
“There is not a tactical plan. His team cannot put pressure on their opponents like Manchester City.
“It does not always have to be full pressing but we don’t see any of it .
“Everything in the United team is based on the individual qualities of the players.
“They have those qualities and it often gets a result for the team but it is never a team result.
“It has not been looking good in a number of matches. United struggle to be dominant, that is the whole problem.”
Like Ronaldo, Blind was really unimpressed with the display in the 1-1 draw with Everton last weekend.
He said: “After they took the lead against Everton they started to wait for them in their own half.
“They want to score on the counter but that is not good enough for a club like Manchester United.
“The next thing is that you see how they struggle to turn the game around when Everton equalised. They hardly created any chances.
“The results are not good. Ole lost against Young Boys, against West Ham in the cup, against Aston Villa and they were lucky against
Villarreal simply because of Ronaldo’s quality.
“Against Everton, another draw. They only just got away with this draw. It has to improve.
“We cannot say that Solskjaer has had a long career at the top level as a manager before United.
“Yes, he was champion in Norway but that is a different level. I know why he gets more time than other coaches, he is a child of the club.
“He scored that legendary goal in 1999 which helped them win the Champions League but all that is not enough for what is being produced right now.”
Bl i nd bel ieves the addition of Ronaldo has not helped the balance of the team and he said: “You are not going to change Cristiano’s thinking and his approach of the game.
“Solskjaer will have to come up with a playing style where Cristiano can still flourish and the team can still put their opponent under pressure.
“Cristiano has scored some important goals but his presence in the team requires a different way of thinking tactically.
“Normally, you would expect the striker is the first man to chase the opposition defenders but the team has lost its orientation.
“They are not in their confident structure now Ronaldo is up front.”
Blind insists, however, he would not pull the trigger on Solskjaer now.
He said: “This is not the moment to change.
“They are not way behind in the Premier League but they have lost more games than you would expect.”