Solskjaer plays the Ferguson card to avoid burning issue
➤ United manager lashes out over Greenwood saga to deflect from transfer woes in a move reminiscent of mentor’s tactics
There was no one better in football at diversionary tactics than Sir Alex Ferguson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seemed to be adopting a line straight out of his mentor’s playbook yesterday when the Manchester United manager went on the attack over Mason Greenwood.
If United had a bad result, a player was in trouble or a problem was brewing that he did not want to discuss, Ferguson was a master at deflecting attention away from a burning issue by picking an unsuspecting target and sticking two feet in. Indeed, the Football Association, a preferred punchbag, would cop for it more than most.
United kick off their season at home to Crystal Palace this evening and, while Solskjaer may have had his nose put out of joint by Greenwood’s England shame this month given that he never wanted the teenager to join up with the national team in the first place, it was hard to escape the feeling that concocting a club-versus-country row was a handy way of shifting the focus from more pressing matters.
It has been a difficult summer for United for all manner of reasons, the Greenwood controversy and captain Harry Maguire’s arrest ordeal in Mykonos among them. Paul Pogba’s positive coronavirus test, which cost the France midfielder some valuable training time, has almost struggled to register among the litany of headaches for Solskjaer and the manager has been reluctant to confirm who will be his first-choice goalkeeper, David de Gea or Dean Henderson, back from two years on loan at Sheffield United and out to dislodge the increasingly error prone Spaniard.
Yet nothing is concerning fans quite like the club’s struggles to strengthen the squad ahead of the new campaign and Solskjaer, understandably, was probably reluctant to have the narrative dominated by questions about their protracted pursuit of Jadon Sancho and other transfer troubles as he faced the media yesterday for the first time since the Europa League semi-final exit to Sevilla a month ago.
Still, there is no hiding from that particular issue, even if the Covid-19 crisis has not made life any easier for a club who routinely seem to strug
gle to operate with the same stealth in the transfer market as Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City.
With just over a fortnight until the close of the transfer window, Holland winger Donny van de Beek remains United’s only signing to date and, while the club may yet meet Borussia Dortmund’s
£108 million asking price for Sancho and are in talks about Porto left-back Alex Telles, Solskjaer could be forgiven for feeling a little unsettled.
He identified the need for a rightsided forward, and specifically England winger Sancho, well over 18 months ago and the prospect of not having that position addressed in this window would be troublesome in the extreme for the manager, not least after watching another key target, Erling Haaland, elude the club’s grasp back in January.
A company man, Solskjaer is not the sort to kick up a fuss in public, unlike his pugnacious predecessor, Jose Mourinho, but privately the Norwegian has made it abundantly clear to the club’s executive vicechairman, Ed Woodward, that it is imperative the squad is improved.
Anyone who witnessed Solskjaer’s reluctance to turn to his bench, unimpressed by the options available, once football resumed in June will recognise that United’s current squad is ill equipped to mount a credible title challenge.
It was not until the 87th minute, a full 10 minutes after going behind against Sevilla, that Solskjaer sought to make a change, despite many of his players being on their knees. That tells you everything.
Van de Beek looks a smart signing and, at £34.8 million, relatively good value, even if Liverpool have just signed European Cup winner Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich for only £20 million, but United will need a lot more than just the Dutchman if they are to capitalise on last season’s third-place finish and seriously bridge the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City this term.
Telles could arrive to provide competition at left-back for Luke Shaw, but the need for a pedigree centre-half seems more pressing. The club that United pipped to third, Chelsea, have signed five players at a cost of more than £200 million and, while the West London club’s purse strings may have been a little looser as they look to make up for lost time following a transfer embargo, that will be cold comfort to Solskjaer.
Diversionary tactics are fine for now but United need to hit the ground running, and a strong end to a frustrating window.