A BLIND MAN CAN SEE OLE’S WRONG
MANCHESTER UNITED have no identity or tactical plan under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and have lost their focus since Cristiano Ronaldo’s return.
That’s the view of Danny Blind – the father of ex-united star Daley – who is back working as assistant coach to former Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal with Holland.
Blind said: “What is the identity of this Manchester United team? What is his plan? It is exactly that what is missing with Solskjaer.
“There is not a tactical plan. His team are not able to 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 players.
Struggle
“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 particularly unimpressed with the display in the 1-1 draw with Everton last weekend.
He added: “The results are not good. He lost against Young Boys, against West Ham in the cup, against Aston Villa and they were lucky against Villarreal because of Ronaldo’s quality. Against Everton, another draw.
“And they only just got away with
this draw. It has to improve and it can improve. We cannot say that Solskjaer has had a long career at top level as a manager before United.”
The addition of Ronaldo has not helped the balance of the team, according to Blind. He said: “You are not going to change Cristiano anymore in his thinking and his approach to the game.
“He has come back and scored some important goals. But his presence in the team requires a different way of thinking tactically.
“Normally, you would expect that the striker is the first man to chase the defenders of the opposition.
“He will run from one defender to the other. But the team are not in their confident structure now Ronaldo is up front.”