What needs to change now on the pitch
Restore some spirit
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believed in removing the emotion from decision-making. And his team was a reflection of that. Watching them as they conceded yet another collection of poorly defended goals in their 4-1 defeat at Vicarage Road was to see a bunch schooled in the Solskjaer non-aggression pact. Imagine how old-school United players might have reacted to yet another goal being given away. Roy Keane and Bryan Robson would have been yelling blue murder at their colleagues. But against Watford on Saturday, the United defence were silent, simply looking crestfallen, bemused, confused. It was a reflection of what was happening on the bench, where Solskjaer remained impassive as Michael Carrick (right) quietly consulted his ipad. The interim manager urgently needs to instill some proper fight. And the players seem up for it. After all, following every defeat their social media accounts inform us how much they are hurting inside.
It is about time they showed it.
Get some chat going
It is not just losing their tempers with each other that is absent from this United team: they do not even talk to each other. Victor Lindelof ’s (below) despairing gesticulation when he was obliged to kick a long ball downfield midway through the first half here because nobody was moving ahead of him to receive a pass was symptomatic of a total lack of on-pitch communication.
Pick the right players
When Donny van de Beek (above) came on to the pitch at half-time, suddenly United had in their midst someone doing things like passing to a player wearing the same colour shirt. That he had been so long ignored by Solskjaer while others remained in the team was symptomatic of the Norwegian’s poor judgment. Harry Maguire (far left), Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-bissaka need a spell on the bench to recover their confidence. As for Bruno Fernandes, his performance was abject. Ceding possession at every turn, he should have been replaced by Jesse Lingard long before half-time. The new man has to pick on form, not reputation.
Restore some tactics
Canny old campaigner Claudio Ranieri knew precisely what United would do when it came to the press – not a lot – and instructed his Watford players accordingly. The Hornets buzzed United off the ball with an ease that was at times embarrassing. An overarching team structure is entirely absent and needs to be urgently applied.
Bring in some coaching support
Solskjaer liked to manage by committee. He may have been fired, but the committee remains. And it is hard to see what any of them deliver. Even the minor things do not seem to be working. Take United’s pre-match warm up. There were about half-a-dozen committee members out on the pitch overseeing it. Yet it was uninventive, lacking in dynamism, involving an awful lot of standing around. Frankly an under-12s team would have found it all a little static and undemanding. The interim manager will require a lot more effective input than Solskjaer seemed to get from his sidekicks. Good luck, then Mr Interim. You’ll need it.