THE BLUE PRINT FOR MANCHESTER UNITEDS SEASON THROWN OUT THE DOOR.
Strategy to be used by Manchester United moving forward into the future a little too pedestrian and a little too stone age to be successful in modern football.
Simply put Manchester United's use of poor strategy appears to be one of the main factors, if not the main problems why Manchester United appears to have hit a major slump in what was expected to be the season where Ole Gunner Solskjaer proves himself as the right choice moving forward.
During the Norweigian manager term as interim manager, the signs shown by Solskjaer as manager were hunger, tenacity and creating chances even against the biggest odds. Qualities that made the Manchester United owners believe at the end of Solskjaer interim season as a manager that Manchester United had found the right man. However, after just roughly twelve games played in the season, Manchester United's plan for the season appears to have taken a slight detour.
Too early to panic? Well yes and no. See while Manchester United has played just 10 games and collected at the max 12 points in the Premier League so far, we also have to consider the flip side to the 12 points gained and that is the pure reality of 18 points dropped already in the early part of the season. The worst part of the situation is not really the points that have been dropped but the teams Manchester United have dropped these points to. Newcastle, Wolverhampton, West Ham, and Crystal Palace are just the list of the main teams that have successfully taken a point or 3 out of Manchester United so far this season and looking at the list Ole Gunner Solskjaer himself will have a difficult time denying that these are points Manchester United should have safely in their pockets.
Yes, Manchester United still have a hand full of games which will provide Solskjaer and his team with a substantial amount of opportunities to make their way up the ladder of the Premier League table but these games from the looks of the scenario in this seasons schedule will not be a walk in the park. With Manchester United set to take on Norwich, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Partizan Belgrade, Brighton and Sheffield in the next seven games of the Premier League, Europa League and Football League cup combined, Solskjaer is faced with a difficult job getting victories for Manchester United. The positive news for Manchester United appears to be that some of the teams' most influential players have started to make their way back from injuries in the past week or two.
The return of strike duo Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford seem to have reinstalled some level of increase in Manchester United's attacking momentum as was witnessed this past week during the teams past Wednesday evenings match against Chelsea in the Football League Cup competition. In a pure, unbiased, analysis of the match, Manchester United display during Wednesday match was undoubtedly one of the best displays Manchester United could have had under Ole Gunner Solskjaer. The reintroduction of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford certainly injected some level of quality into Manchester United attacking threat during Wednesdays match against Chelsea. While Manchester United might not still be operating in the best level expected from the club, the return of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and possibly Jesse Lingard into the starting lineup against Bournemouth is expected to inject some level of higher quality into the team this coming tonight.
As the current season steadily makes its way to the midway point the current small talks around Old Trafford seem to promote the idea that the reason why Manchester United appears to be struggling quite clearly at this point of the season is that opponents have discovered the weakness in Solskjaers team. This past 2019 summer transfer window, strong analysis delivered by some experienced analysts pointed out some potential weak spots such as lack of multiple creative individuals in Manchester United's which ultimately supported the lack of creative dept absent in Solskjaers' current team.
When asked about the situation manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer, more or less, dismissed the idea of the teams' potential to struggle to insist that Manchester United has enough quality players in the squad to survive the difficult season. While Manchester United had started the season in a positive manner beating an impressive Chelsea team by a resounding 4-0 victory, as the season progresses, Manchester United's opponents seem to have discovered the best way eliminate the threat posed by the Red Devils is to limit the danger caused by Manchester United winger and limit one Paul Pogbas time on the ball. A strategy that has proven quite effective against Manchester United so far in the current season.
The final touch to tonight's article is a fact Manchester United will have to face once again this weekend which is the absence of massive creativity in the middle of the park due to the absence of one, injured, Paul Pogba in the center midfield for Manchester United. The French midfielder continues to recover from the ankle injury he picked up at the end of September which has been the main reason Paul Pogba was out of action for Manchester for the better part of a month for Manchester United.
While Manchester United have certainly not been completely abysmal in their displays as the Red Devils have managed to secure points in their last four games without their top midfielder, the return of Paul Pogba will certainly provide a huge sigh of relief for Ole Gunner Solskjear, the Board of Directors and the Fans as hopes of escaping the clubs current position at the bottom half of the Premier League table and dreams of making the top four begin to slowly reignite once again.