Manchester United could wait until the summer to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but with matches against Tottenham, Atalanta and Manchester City before the international break, further damaging defeats after the 5-0 Liverpool loss could force their hand.
Brendan Rodgers and Gareth Southgate have been sounded out as British options in the summer, but the Norwegian will hope results turn around to dismiss talk of him leaving this season.
Here are five ways Solskjaer can keep his job a little longer…
1. Start winning
Simplistic as it sounds, the next three games will go a long way to either righting the ship or enhancing the growing feeling that Solskjaer is a dead man walking.
Respectable results against Spurs and Manchester City are a must – as are respectable performances – but the midweek Champions League visit to Atalanta is, arguably, even more important.
Victory and United will be on nine points and as good as qualified for the knock-out stages. Anything less and Solskjaer will be under intense pressure on a European, as well as domestic, front.
Regardless, a run of two victories from the last seven games is not exactly impressive.
2. Sort out his defence
A defence that has kept one clean sheet in the last 21 attempts is hardly operating at the peak of its powers, given the personnel involved.
A lot of the issues have been down to individual errors, often in other areas of the field, but there is an increasing impression that a lot of problems are also due to poor coaching.
Harry Maguire has not looked anything like the world’s most expensive defender, United’s full-backs have played poorly consistently and Solskjaer clearly has no faith in Eric Bailly despite the recent injury to Raphael Varane.
The days of Jose Mourinho parking buses in front of the United goal no longer seem so unattractive.
3. Manage Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo has turned into the player Solskjaer dare not leave out of his starting line-up – or bring off before the 90 minutes are concluded.
Given his advanced years – 36 – Ronaldo can only maintain that sort of schedule for so long before fatigue, injury or loss of form overtakes him.
The simple solution would be to use Edinson Cavani as an alternative, and equally experienced, striker but the Uruguayan still seems to be way off the full pace required. A shortage of a proven, reliable goalscorer – other than Ronaldo – remains a pressing concern.
4. Tune out the noise and hold the dressing room together
Solskjaer has tried to take a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s book this week, picking on one particular news report that emerged and branding it “lies”.
It was a classic “us against them” tactic that worked so often for Solskjaer’s mentor.
However, it lacked the conviction that Fergie was able to provide when he employed such a technique and, largely, rang hollow.
There have been too many reports of dressing room concerns and dissatisfaction – if not outright rebellion – for Solskjaer to dismiss such a problem so flippantly and it is something a manager with a reputation as a “nice guy” needs to handle.
5. Handle the Paul Pogba conundrum
Solskjaer has, first of all, to find an effective position to play the French World Cup-winning star who seems to excel best of all wide on the left of his attacking midfielders.
That position is already over-crowded and it is hard to see a consistent place for Pogba, as long as Solskjaer persists with his default 4-2-3-1 formation.
Of greater concern, however, is the potential for distraction – some would say chaos – that Pogba and his “super agent” Mino Raoila could create as the midfielder heads towards the end of his United contract in the summer.
Pogba’s antics against Liverpool, where he was sent off 15 minutes after coming on as a substitute, hardly helped Solskjaer’s cause.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3GwT7Qj
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