MAKE OR BREAK FOR OLE
Under- fire United boss has seven games in 21 days to save his job
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has been in Manchester long enough to know it never rains when it can pour.
But as he approaches a run of seven games in 21 days – a stretch that looks set to make or break him as manager – there can be little doubt the outlook at Old Trafford has seldom looked as gloomy.
Even allowing for the oppressive scrutiny under which Old Trafford bosses live, Solskjaer is in a spot of bother with problems on and off the pitch that will stress test his man- management and judgment to the limit.
Not least is the respective confidence of captain Harry Maguire and goalkeeper David de Gea, the former who looks in need of a holiday if the last one had not been the root of the problem.
On the pitch, just one win in three unconvincing displays has left United 16th in the table with their worst start in their Premier League history.
There are issues once again with the tiresome Paul Pogba’s form and commitment both looking shaky. And there is the shadow of Mauricio Pochettino, who is out of work but most definitely not out of sight. Maguire’s form since his arrest and charging in Mykonos in the summer has suggested a distracted mind.
He was poor in the 6- 1 defeat to Tottenham before the international break and did little to redeem himself for England, culminating in his red card against Denmark. Gareth Southgate urged Solskjaer to back his captain through his current dip. And while Solskjaer will almost certainly come to the same conclusion he has few better options. De Gea was criticised for his positioning for what was admittedly an excellent goal for Ukraine’s winner on Tuesday, but it is his position as No1 ahead of Dean Henderson at Old Trafford that Solskjaer will have to defend.
Spain boss Luis Enrique claimed that blaming De Gea was becoming “an obsession” and “a turn on” for many but, in some ways, it is easy for him to back a player who looks short of confidence. Solskjaer will surely be forced to reach a firmer conclusion sooner than Enrique over a course of seven games in three weeks, with four Premier League outings and three in the Champions League. The first of those comes against Newcastle tomorrow night and United will be without Anthony Martial, who is serving the first of a three- match suspension, and Edinson Cavani.
The latter will be available for the return to Paris to face his former club PSG on Tuesday but his absence – owing to selfisolation after arriving on deadline day – only serves to add to the confused picture of recruitment.
The one player United did sign in good time, Donny van de Beek, has yet to start a Premier League game despite a £ 41million price tag, although a full league debut may come at St James’s Park.
Casting an eye down the list of United’s biggest transfers still at the club is illuminating. Of Pogba, Maguire, Martial, Fred, Bruno Fernandes, Aaron Wan- Bissaka, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Van de Beek and Eric Bailly, arguably six are out of form and three out of the starting XI.
Of those playing regularly only Fernandes could hold his head up.
And with the get out of jail card provided by his playing career no longer cutting as much ice after a couple of uses, Solskjaer needs to banish the dark clouds building with wins – starting tomorrow.