Ole Gunnar Solskjaer crossed the Rubicon on Sunday as manager of Manchester United. On that day he was humiliated by predecessor Jose Mourinho in a 6-1 loss to Tottenham at Old Trafford. This could be the moment that triggered the search for his successor.
Mauricio Pochettino, who Mourinho replaced at Spurs last November, is still available and his shadow will keep growing over Solskjaer. And after such a brutal defeat, in which the United players put in a terrible performance, it would not be a surprise if the Argentine receives a call from Vice Chairman Ed Woodward during the international break.
Should this be the case, Solskjaer cannot have any complaints. There’s really no hiding place now, regardless of the hand his bosses have given him in the transfer market during the ongoing transfer window, which closes at midnight CET on Monday.
The fact is, if Solskjaer loses his job, he will have to take on as much guilt as anyone else.
– Maguire 2/10 as United are humble
– Son Kane 8/10 as Spurs smashed six
Without question, he was disappointed by the club during the transfer window. It is almost certain that United won’t sign the main target Jadon Sancho before the deadline, despite no serious effort being made to meet the manager’s request for a commanding center-back, which is confirmed by the miserable defense against Spurs.
Just like in Mourinho’s last transfer window as United manager, no goals were set in the summer of 2018 as set by the man in charge of the team and, as always, the club is starting with a deadline to close deals. with free agent Edinson Cavani and Porto left-back Alex Telles expected to sign.
Solskjaer wanted Erling Haaland last December, but despite a personal friendship with the player’s father and working with the young striker at Molde, Woodward couldn’t reach a deal before Borussia Dortmund snatched FC Salzburg’s teenager. In addition to Sancho, RB Leipzig’s defender Dayot Upamecano is another target that has nowhere near signed.
But every manager has to accept the frustration of not getting the players they want, and the key to the job is working with the resources available and making the players better.
Solskjaer could argue that he coaxed the best from Anthony Martial and tapped the undisputed potential of Mason Greenwood, but the majority of United’s squad has declined under his leadership.
Given what followed, it is worth remembering that United scored the goal against Spurs within two minutes and Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty. What followed, however, was one goal after another with one shambolic mistake after another, proof that Solskjaer’s defenders are doing as if they weren’t properly trained.
When a team has sent a man off – United sent Martial 2-1 off for slapping Erik Lamela in the 29th minute – it’s the professional mindset to contain the damage and end the game. None of this was seen and Solskjaer, hands clasped on the sidelines, did nothing to induce action or inspire his players.
On the other hand, this was a triumph that will reassure any critics who claim Mourinho has lost its magical touch. Spurs played their fourth game in a week and made the worst start, but took the lead within seven minutes of falling behind and cruised afterwards when their manager was delighted with the circumstances.
Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane scored two goals each for the away team, while French duo Tanguy Ndombele and Serge Aurier also took the lead. Mourinho has led his club through a hectic period and Tottenham are on international hiatus with confidence building and the imminent return of Gareth Bale.
By contrast, United’s players were terrible. If Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw, and Harry Maguire stopped wearing the red shirt after their incompetent portrayals, they might have no complaints.
Pogba was like a wrecking ball … against his own team. The foul on Ben Davies that resulted in the penalty for Tottenham’s sixth goal was so bad that you wouldn’t see it repeated in a child’s play. But Pogba is a £ 89million midfielder with a reputation that far outweighs his contribution.
This is a United side who have conceded 11 goals in three league games so far this season and there are no excuses for that. There were only ten men against Spurs, not seven, so there really can’t be any attempt to soften the embarrassing goal line.
Just three games in the Premier League season, United are miles behind champions Liverpool and nine points behind Everton, so you can forget about winning the title for another year. Maybe no one at Old Trafford believed they could win it anyway, but it’s not even Halloween and they are already out of the running.
The big question now is how long the United owners, the Glazer family, will endure such dismal accomplishments and results. History shows that they rarely act quickly. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho have all been laid off months after the onset of signs of decline, so Solskjaer may last for a while.
When United and Spurs met in that game last December, the specter of Pochettino overshadowed the game. Almost a year later he remains unemployed but will not be available forever. When the cameras panned Woodward towards the end of his club’s final humiliation, he was seen texting on his cell phone.
If he hadn’t made plans to move to the manager’s office, there would be a growing number who believe it should have been him.
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