Penalty debacle has made Solskjaer look weak
United manager paid the price for trying to keep players happy instead of showing who is in charge
One thing is for sure: if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the minerals to be a top-flight manager, then there will not be a repeat of the incident against Wolverhampton Wanderers the next time Manchester United are
awarded a penalty. It is difficult to imagine Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp allowing the players to debate who felt confident enough to take one, as Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford did.
Raheem Sterling found that out recently when he asked Sergio Aguero to defer to him when he was on a hat-trick in Manchester City’s rout of West Ham United.
Aguero is the penalty-taker and, even if his own record has hardly been impressive – he missed against West Ham and was fortunate to be allowed a retake from which he scored – it is clear.
City have paid the price before. Riyad Mahrez took a late penalty against Liverpool last season, which he skied into the Anfield Road end and which meant the game ended in a goalless draw that almost proved costly for City.
Even so, Guardiola said afterwards that he had taken the decision for Mahrez to step up – which looked like an effort to defend the player – even though he had missed six of his previous 10 and got into an argument with Gabriel Jesus over who should take it before the manager intervened.
At Liverpool, James Milner is the first-choice penalty-taker, followed by Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, and there has to be a defined hierarchy which is agreed upon before every game.
It makes no sense to allow any confusion, especially with a team such as United, who Solskjaer stresses are young and trying to find their way. They need direction and leadership and leaving it to the players is not empowering them, but an abdication of responsibility by Solskjaer, which leads to more uncertainty at a club trying to re-establish themselves.
The theme predates him at United, it seems. When Jose Mourinho was manager, Pogba was involved in a squabble last August with Alexis Sanchez after the Chilean earned a penalty against Leicester City and wanted to take it, but was forced to back down. Pogba grabbed the ball and scored.
“We don’t really have one,” Pogba said at the time of whether there was a designated penaltytaker at United. “The manager has names, but after it’s how we feel.”
This was later contradicted by Mourinho – who said Pogba was
the penalty-taker – and maybe that was indicative of the struggle for control that ushered him out of Old Trafford.
Given the emphatic way in which Rashford scored from the spot against Chelsea the previous weekend, it did not make sense for him to step down as United’s penalty-taker unless, as Solskjaer appeared to intimate, he felt less confident against Wolves.
It certainly did not look to be the case as he checked with Pogba whether he was sure he wanted to take it. Instead it looked like Pogba felt because he had earned the penalty, he should take it, which is not the way to do things.
This is professional sport not, as Gary Neville said in his analysis on Monday Night Football,a
“tombola”.
It should be a harsh lesson learnt for Solskjaer, even if he is negotiating the backdrop of trying to keep Pogba happy while the midfielder wants to leave.
United have paid the penalty for not being able to work out how best to take penalties.
That is something Solskjaer cannot afford to repeat, otherwise he leaves himself open to accusations of being weak and with a dressing room where there is still no defined leadership.
Players can miss penalties and Pogba’s was not the worst, but it is damaging when Solskjaer allows the confusion to take place. After all, he is supposed to be at the wheel.