Get real, United fans: Sacking Solskjaer would not solve your problems overnight

(AND NEITHER WOULD AXING McTOMINAY!)

IT’S time for Manchester United fans to stop living in the past.

It has taken Liverpool 30 years to get back to where they were – in terms of winning the title – and United are a million miles away from the Premier League summit now.

Getting rid of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would not solve anything overnight.

You could put Mauricio Pochettino or Max Allegri – both out of work and available for hire – in charge of this United squad and they could not transform the club simply by waving a magic wand.

And it doesn’t help when club legends like Paul Parker turn their fire on young players like Scott McTominay as if they are the root of the club’s problems.

Parker branded McTominay a “modern-day Robbie Savage” who just “runs around trying to kick people and thumping the badge.”

If you are going to have a go at anyone, have a go at United’s experienced superstars who have not lived up to their billing.

In recent times, have the likes of Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez and Radamel Falcao done what it said on the tin or given value for money?

I like Parker, and he was part of an England team that reached the World Cup semifinals 30 years ago, so his pedigree speaks for itself.

But to compare McTominay with me is nonsense.

I wasn’t good enough to get in the United team from the Class of 92. I was surrounded by world-class players – Beckham, Neville, Scholes, Giggs – who fulfilled their potential every week. McTominay (right) may not be the fastest player to wear the shirt, nor the most gifted, but he has proved he can force his way into the team.

And he has kept his place as he’s been one of United’s best players this season. That says as much about the players around him as McTominay himself.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion in football, but I’m sorry, it is a cheap shot to call McTominay a modern-day Robbie Savage who goes around kicking people and “thumping the badge.” That’s really, really harsh and disrespectful.

He’s a better player than that.

And there’s a place for someone who runs through brick walls, like McTominay, in United’s starting

XI, especially if he’s one of a midfield three. And I would argue there’s room for him as one of two holding midfielders if the other is a world-class player like Paul Pogba.

Oh, and by the way, I captained four Premier

League clubs. Yes, I could be a wind-up merchant on the pitch but I would nothave worn the armband for all those clubs if I just went around kicking opponents.

One thing that worries me about Parker’s comment is that it hints at divisions within the fan base.

Every time United lose, fans pile on to the 606 phone-in hotline calling for Solskjaer to go. And when they do well against a top-four side, it’s all quiet. They have to be careful not to go down the same road as Arsenal, where the atmosphere at the Emirates became toxic in the last days of Arsene Wenger’s reign – and spilled over into Unai Emery’s spell in charge. I am aware that Ole’s win percentage is the lowest of any United manager, but I’m not pointing the finger at the likes of McTominay or Phil Jones. It’s probably true that Jones’ best days at Old Trafford are behind him but, when he pulls on the shirt, at least you know he cares – and he has a clutch of medals to prove it.

There are players on £200,000 a week or more who could

take a leaf out of McTominay’s book in terms of heart, passion, desire and work ethic.

He is a valuable asset in the same way that Darren Fletcher was worth his weight in gold to Sir Alex Ferguson down the years.

The difference is that Fletcher had world-class players around him: McTominay does not.

He gives the team a heartbeat, just as Jordan Henderson does for Liverpool and

Peter Reid did for Everton’s titlewinning teams in the 1980s.

Henderson was not always flavour of the month when he first arrived at Anfield, but in 2019 he lifted the Champions League and Club World Cup trophies.

And I suspect he will be lifting more silverware, starting with the Premier League trophy, in 2020.

Instead of ex-United players and legends singling out McTominay’s honest application as a problem, they should be looking at the areas where the team is coming up short.

In this transfer window, Solskjaer (top) should make a centre-back with pace a top priority. Victor Lindelof has had a decent season, but he was poor against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final the other night and I think Harry Maguire needs more mobility around him at the centre of defence.

And, above all, United definitely need a No.10.

I would go all out for Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish or Leicester City’s James Maddison, both exceptionally talented players who would fit snugly into this United side.

Of the two, I would probably go for Grealish because he runs at opposition defenders, takes them on, and creates space for others by doing so.

Look at the stats and you’ll find Grealish (left) has completed more passes and dribbles, drawn more fouls, provided more assists, and scored more goals than Maddison. What’s more, he has done it in a struggling team at Aston Villa.

The real issue facing United is that they may not be able to get either Grealish or Maddison.

That’s a measure of how drastically their bargaining power in the market has waned.

So instead of turning on grafters like McTominay, fans and ex-players need to face the facts: Manchester United are in the wilderness, way behind Liverpool and City.

This year it will be seven seasons since they last won the title – and the drought does not look like ending any time soon.

I would go all out for Grealish or Maddison if I were United