MANCHESTER UNITED'S OLD HABITS MIGHT HURT THE CLUBS AMBITIONS THIS SEASON
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, FC Barcelona and then West Ham United FC. Looking at the upcoming matches for Manchester United in a couple of days, The Red Devils seem to head for a week or two covered with matches that appear winnable on paper.
Current Manchester United manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer had experienced a couple of days away from matches involving domestic competitions and European competitions as the players were tied up with respective international duties. Before the start of the international break, Manchester United found themselves successfully qualified for the quarterfinal stage of the prestigious UEFA Champions League competition as Ole Gunner Solskjaer and his men made their way through accomplishing the task of overturning a two-goal deficit against a difficult Paris St German team in the knocked out round. Job well done from Manchester United and the expectation for Manchester United would be that the team will go on to succeed in the next upcoming matches only to witness the same Manchester United team tamed and beaten by a good Wolverhampton team in this seasons Emirates Cup competition and then barely defeat a decent Watford team recently at Old Trafford.
Inconsistency is a part of the game in the world of sports today and inconsistent performance is definitely not a new subject around football clubs in Europe today. However, for a Manchester United team rebuilding, successfully so far, towards challenging and winning major competitions around Europe, victory on the face of certain matches have to be considered a guarantee considering the history and prestige that comes along with the famous Manchester United football club.
Consistency
is definitely a factor that has played a role in Manchester United’s season
this past four years and the slight concern around Manchester United might be
that inconsistency might derail the clubs ambition for success once again
during this seasons campaign. Under the watch of Ole Gunner Solskjaer, Manchester
United appear to be experiencing a remarkable turnaround in their current
season with the Red Devils going on a blistering good run that started back
during the month of December 2018. A run that saw Ole Gunner
Solskjaer gather an impressive record of 16 wins in all competitions and with
the rapid insurgence of improved football by Manchester United under Solskjaer
the Red Devils automatically reignited their hopes of not only finishing in one
of the top four spots in the Premier League table but also
reigniting the strong possibility of winning this seasons illustrious UEFA
Champions League competition.
With all the accomplishment Ole Gunner Solskjaer achieved during his short period as temporary manager, the news of Ole Gunner Solskjaer just recently been confirmed by the Manchester United board of director as the new permanent man in charge at Manchester United with a massive three year contract certainly did not come as a complete surprise to the public. The news has been responded to in such a positive manner by the Manchester United community with most of the hope and expectation around the club now pointing towards the idea that Manchester United will not only push on to succeed in clinching top four in this seasons Premier League table but also that under Ole Gunner Solskjaer the club will successfully move on to win this seasons UEFA Champions League competitions.
However, the little issue of inconsistency in regards to Manchester United’s performance remains an issue the club must address especially during matches Manchester United are typically expected to win. Manchester United have continued to show fine form under the guidance of Ole Gunner Solskjaer and his coaching staff beating the likes of Tottenham, Paris St German, Chelsea amongst other good clubs in the second half of the season and the massive improvement of form was undoubtedly one of the main reason why Manchester United have moved forward with the decision of putting all the clubs hopes on the Norwegian manager with good reason. Since the appointment of Ole Gunner Solskjaer as the then Caretaker Manager of Manchester United football club, Manchester United have not only witnessed a drastic improvement in their winning percentage but the Red Devils have also witnessed improvements on the individual player performance and improvements on the general style of play around the team. Fair to say Ole Gunner Solskjaer wasted no time in his plan to remodel Manchester United back into an elite force in Europe.
But the job is not done yet for Ole Gunner Solskjaer. In fact, the job has merely started to get interesting because as the saying goes “Old habits die hard”. Manchester United have shown a few occasions during the second half of the current season that regardless of the Red Devils massive improvements on the football field, there are still days that the club from east Manchester experience a few errors in the system by reverting to their poor approach to games witnessed throughout the majority of the 2018 calendar year prior to the new Ole Gunner Solskjaer. Matches against Burnley FC, Arsenal at the Emirates stadium and Wolverhampton at the Molineux stadium are just some examples of matches with Solskjaer in charge where Manchester United had reverted to lackluster selves with indecisive passes, not capitalizing on opportunities such as having %62 ball possession over the opponents %38, creating 11 shots in the entire match and yet only registering two shots on target, scoring one goal and, from the evidence of the match, rightfully losing to a more deserving Wolverhampton team on the night. This is just one of a few examples where Manchester United have shown that while ‘Ole’s at the wheel”, the wheel has shown to have shown to still have trouble getting permanently accustomed to being stirred constantly to the direction of winning football matches.
Expecting Ole Gunner Solskjaer to constantly deliver winning results accompanied by consistent attacking football from this point on until the end of the season is a risky mindset Manchester United must avoid putting on the shoulders of the partly inexperienced Manchester United especially with the remnants of disastrous football delivered throughout the last three seasons prior to Ole Gunner Solskjaer period still sticking at the sole edges of the boots worn by Manchester United players. Evidence of the overall performance rate under the guidance of the new man at the wheel will support the notion that Manchester United have well and truly rediscovered the winning formula that has kept Old Trafford successful for the past couple of years and while Ole Gunner Solskjaer with the current Manchester United squad have achieved massive progress this second have of the season, banking on top four finishing might not produce a positive result.
Should Manchester United fail to capture a place in one of the top four spots available in the Premier League table and should Manchester United fail to UEFA Champions League trophy, the blame must not lay on the shoulders of Solskjaer and the Manchester United players. The blame might rightfully find its way resting solely on the solely on the shoulders of the Manchester United board of directors whom surely must have a reasonable explanation for sitting back and allowing Manchester United run by managers prior to the arrival of Ole Gunner Solskjaer whom simply could not live up to the Manchester United standard after the resignation of one the most successful managers in history Sir Alex Ferguson.
