Full marks to Solskjaer’s ‘kids’ but now they have to play like that every week
Old Trafford players must prove that impressive show was no flash in the pan
Stilted and inconsistent for so long, Manchester United have been desperate for something to boast about – a speciality to shove in the faces of opponents. In this derby at the home of the champions they found one, their quartet of young attackers ripping through Manchester City’s midfield to get the good times rolling again.
“We do look like a Man Utd team, and that’s the big thing for me,” said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, their manager, before spelling out his team’s method. “You can call it counter-attacking. That sounds very negative really. For me it’s quick, attacking, flowing football with the right intent,” Solskjaer said. “When we win it, there’s no use putting it back to the goalkeeper if the chances are there to play through them. We’ve got players of pace and quality and skill. I wouldn’t want James, Lingard, Martial and Rashford running at me.”
Who, or what, are United post
Sir Alex Ferguson? That question has haunted the fallen giants of the title race, driving their supporters to despair. There were sackings, U-turns, bad buys and dull football. Then the idea came along that a darling of the Stretford End with no experience of managing at this level would start from scratch. Idlers would be purged, starlets promoted and money kept in the bank rather than wasted on arms-race signings.
United bet the farm on just about the only strategy they had not tried since Ferguson retired. They would be patient, take the blows, give the “kids” time to develop. All very laudable, but the Premier League table spoke only of frustration and inconsistency. Until, that is, a small bounce, achieved against one of the managers United hoped would be the saviour: Jose Mourinho, whose Tottenham team lost 2-1 to United in midweek and thus put some spice into this battle of Manchester.
United’s forward four of Marcus Rashford, Daniel
James, Anthony Martial and
Jesse Lingard were electrifying in a first half that showed why City have fallen behind Liverpool. Their back four has become easier to run beyond and their midfield no longer stops threats at birth.
The young guns from Manchester’s red zone spotted that opening from the whistle and gave City’s backline hell, working off a strong midfield platform of Fred and Scott McTominay to lacerate Guardiola’s side at pace.
It was not all raw speed. In the No10 position in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Jesse Lingard confirmed his return to form, spraying passes and carrying the ball with an eagerness we had ceased to associate with him.
Lingard’s slide cost him his England place and marked him out as the kind of substandard player United had come to rely on in their long paralysis: not a bad player, exactly, but one who failed to understand the level demanded of a regular United starter.
That accusation has been directed too at Martial. Even Rashford has had developmental dips. Here, though, United’s counter-attacking in the first half was red hot. Two-nil down inside half an hour to the ruined Reds? City thought they had dealt with this little local feud. Liverpool were the true Red enemy now.
When Solsjkaer asserted that United were still the bigger club, in the build-up, it raised barely a murmur. The two teams have been so far apart that a war of words is hard to ignite these days.
McTominay, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, James, Rashford and Lingard all looked made for this demanding level. But the cold reality is that to play for United, you have to do this every week. One good game in three is not acceptable.
The other day United’s forwards were lambasted by Gary Neville on Sky for spectating at Sheffield United instead of helping their defence by showing for the ball when the opposition were pressing.
It’s the hope that kills you. In the last 10 minutes here City’s Nicolas Otamendi headed in a corner kick and the atmosphere inside the ground turned frenzied.
But United held on to hand Solskjaer victories over a Mourinho team and one coached by Pep Guardiola inside four days. United fans may feel they have seen flashes of such promise too many times. The modern supporter is not programmed to think their team will be good in a couple of years. Tomorrow holds less and less interest. James is in his first season in the top flight and should be offered leeway. But Rashford, Martial and Lingard are at an age when “Fergie’s fledglings” were ready to maintain an unfeasibly high standard. Rashford played and conducted himself like a United legend in the making.
This United side can say they killed off City’s hopes of retaining the title with a potentially transformative win.
Now they just have to play like this every single time.