Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Solskjaer’s tactical flaws come to light as pundit tells manager to copy Prem rival

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacts after Manchester United lose to Leicester, October 2021

Pundit Danny Murphy has urged Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to copy a Premier League rival in an attempt to improve the form of Manchester United.

The Red Devils have gained just one point from their last three league outings. Defeats against Leicester and Aston Villa have come either side of a 1-1 home draw with Everton.

Their poor form has seen the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool get away from them in the table. While it is not a huge gap currently, it could be widened as Man Utd head into a tough run of fixtures.

They face Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Important matches against Liverpool and Spurs follow, before they travel to Italy to play Atalanta again.

Murphy has told Solskjaer what he needs to do to turn the club’s fortunes around. He even urged the Norwegian to follow in Thomas Tuchel’s footsteps at Chelsea.

“I said this a year ago – [Paul] Pogba and [Bruno] Fernandes in the same team doesn’t work unless you’ve got eight others who are workaholics,” he said on talkSPORT (via Express).

“You throw [Cristiano] Ronaldo in the mix, [and] in effect you’re carrying three, aren’t you. It’s fine to carry three attacking players if the rest of them know what they’re doing behind them.

“What’s the answer? Work, and repercussions of performance. If you don’t have the repercussions of performance, you wont get the work in.

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“If you look at Tuchel over the last three weeks, he’s not just not changed personnel and gone: ‘You fix it’.

“He’s actually gone to a five in midfield, with three central midfielders who are all defensive and the two wing-backs, and then played two strikers – he’s only got two attacking players on the pitch.

“And look at his bench, he doesn’t care who he upsets!”


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Murphy went on to suggest that Man Utd could copy Liverpool’s system. “Liverpool have won the Champions League and the Premier League playing a 4-3-3,” he added.

“They had three attackers and two of those three work like dogs.”

Solskjaer will be desperate for the club to pick up some wins soon. Antonio Conte is reportedly being lined up as his replacement, should that fail to happen.

Whelan delivers verdict on Sancho struggles

Football Insider pundit Noel Whelan has questioned why Man Utd bought Jadon Sancho this summer.

The England winger arrived for £73million after an impressive four-year spell with Borussia Dortmund. He was widely seen as the man to solve Solskjaer’s problems on the right flank.

But things haven’t gone the 21-year-old’s way so far. He is yet to register a goal or assist after ten matches. There are also rumours that his team-mates think his arrival was a ‘mistake’.

“It’s strange that they even went for Sancho,” Whelan said. “With [Marcus] Rashford and [Mason] Greenwood already at the club, did they really need him?

“There’s no doubt that he’s very talented but there’s now a huge array of wide players at Man United and something’s got to give.

“With Rashford coming back, you have to say that Sancho is down the pecking order.

“He’s not hit the heights of what we expected. He will become a fantastic player, but he’s not had a quick enough impact at Old Trafford.”

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