Ole Gunnar Solskjaer survived the onslaught and made it to the other side of the international break.
Defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City were damaging, but not enough to see him relieved from his role at Manchester United, and after a brief break back home in Norway Solskjaer has returned to face the noise once more.
He will know the scrutiny won’t be disappearing anytime soon, and the relentless nature of the festive fixtures means it will only increase over the coming weeks.
United have a run of 11 matches from now until 30 December. That’s less than a match every four days and makes for roughly 22 occasions where Solskjaer will face the media providing he remains in charge until at least the New Year.
It will grow tiresome. The questions will keep coming. The opinions of former United players turned pundits will feature, and Solskjaer will be challenged into a response every time.
It could therefore get repetitive, too, but for all this talk of before and after matches, it is what happens during them that will define whether Solskjaer stays or goes – and whether, if recent reports are to be believed, Brendan Rodgers can ramp up his house-hunting ventures in Cheshire or make a few renovations to his Leicestershire gaff instead.
This latest episode of what now for Manchester United starts at Watford, the first of three away games in a row, which could be a welcome relief for Solskjaer as the din from those Old Trafford jeers after the City defeat still lingers.
On the road United have made history under Solskjaer, boasting the longest ever unbeaten away run in the English Football League. That only recently ended on 29 games at Leicester, but they got the ball rolling again with a 3-0 win at Tottenham and will look to make it two straight at Watford.
They also have a strong record against the non-Big Six sides, with only five losses since the start of last season including two against Leicester (who could argue they belong in this “Big” club category) and just the one defeat away from home.
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Losing and being thoroughly outplayed by title-chasing sides appears to be tolerated by United’s board for now, but when coming up against relegation battlers there surely cannot be a similar stance.
For this reason, a defeat at Watford could be far more damaging than the home losses to City and Liverpool. It is a match they are expected to win, an opponent they are expected to outplay, and anything to the contrary will have those alarm bells ringing even louder.
It is a key point in the season for every club, a period where the title winners should announce themselves, and in the race for the top four anyone who loses ground will find themselves playing catch-up in 2022.
A resurgent Arsenal have complicated matters, while West Ham have every confidence they can crash the party too, and the early-season assumption that Manchester United were part of this class apart has been replaced by the reality that even a Champions League place may become out of their grasp.
Victories at clubs like Watford ease those fears, however, and would put valuable points on the table on a Saturday which could prove to be anything but one regular day of Barclays.
Saturday also sees Arsenal head to Liverpool, West Ham travel to Wolves, and Brighton go to Aston Villa, and while Manchester United could end the weekend as high as fifth, depending on other results a loss to Watford could put them as low as 13th.
A slip that far down the rankings is unlikely – it would require United to lose and for Brighton, Wolves, Spurs, Crystal Palace, Everton, Leicester and Southampton all to win (and for the Saints to win handsomely) – but it is a reminder of United’s precarious position.
It also represents where Solskjaer stands: on the brink, but of what exactly is not entirely clear.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3CBcVP2
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