Pressure mounts on Solskjaer as Man Utd stumble again
LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo’s sensational return to Manchester United allowed fans to dream big but three defeats in four games have ramped up the pressure ahead of Villarreal’s Champions League trip to Old Trafford on Wednesday.
There is no need for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to hit the panic button yet, with his side just one point behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after six matches.
But there are worrying signs for the Red Devils, who must rediscover their mojo quickly after a shock reverse in their Champions League opener against Young Boys, a League Cup exit to West Ham and Saturday’s defeat against Aston Villa.
The one result that breaks up that nasty sequence was a 2-1 victory at West Ham, but that only came courtesy of a late winner and a
David de Gea penalty save in stoppage time.
In other circumstances the game against Unai Emery’s Villarreal might appear routine but United are already on the back foot in Europe after their embarrassing loss in Switzerland.
And they have a recent bad experience against the Spanish side, losing on penalties to them in the final of last season’s Europa League, a result that denied them their first silverware since 2017.
United boast a squad that on paper can compete with anybody, with an rich array of attacking talent including Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba.
And that’s not even including big summer signing Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard or the injured Marcus Rashford. But Solskjaer’s side still regularly look less than the sum of their parts.
United had 28 shots in the match against Villa but just four were on target and the visitors posed a regular threat.