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The Red Devils beat West Brom 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday night, but struggled once again, putting greater scrutiny on the coach’s tactics.
If you had asked Manchester United fans to guess how a first home win of the season might come about, a Bruno Fernandes penalty would have been a very popular prediction.
Of course, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have hoped to change style against West Brom on Saturday night, but, with the game coming after an international break, that was always unlikely.
So make no mistake: the Norwegian will be happy to have won all three points thanks to a penalty. After all, United now ranks ninth in the table, ahead of Manchester City.
However, there were no other positives to draw from the game.
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United only broke the deadlock with a repeated penalty from Fernandes early in the second half, and moments after West Brom was denied a penalty of their own.
Referee David Coote had originally penalized the Portuguese himself for an apparent foul on Conor Gallagher, but changed his mind after consulting VAR monitors.
Technology also intervened after Bruno saw his launch from standing point. And the merit of Bruno, who, as he did recently against Paris Saint-Germain, buried the restart.
Still, it says a lot that VAR drama was needed to brighten up a rather bland affair under the lights of Old Trafford.
Before the start of the match, Solskjaer had downplayed the importance of not being able to win at home, claiming that the location of a game is no longer a significant factor, and that now all matches are played behind closed doors due to Covid restrictions. 19.
It was certainly strange to see Solskjaer take a rather cautious approach in a match at Old Trafford against a struggling team, with the coach opting for two defensive players in midfield: Fred and Nemanja Matic.
Everybody knows what Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are capable of when they get quality service and while United also had Juan Mata and Bruno alongside them, there was room for a more progressive passer in the engine room.
Of course, it didn’t help that Martial and Rashford looked washed out anyway. United academy graduate Sam Johnstone made some good saves to keep the two at bay, but they didn’t perform anywhere near their best.
Still, while they could have been more clinical, Solskjaer’s decision to line up Fred and Nemanja Matic together was questionable at best. United really could have allowed themselves to be more adventurous against a team that arrived at Old Trafford without a Premier League victory to their name.
Slaven Bilic’s side had also failed to keep a clean sheet in the first half of any of their away games so far this season and had conceded 17 goals in seven games.
This was not the time, then, for extra defensive cover; it was a game that cried out for the deception of Paul Pogba. Unfortunately, the Frenchman was unavailable due to injury, but Donny van de Beek could have started.
Instead, the summer signing spent most of the first half warming up on the touchline and had to wait until the 78th minute before being introduced. Even then, his arrival did not herald a formation change, with the two retaining midfielders remaining.
Van de Beek has shown in his cameos what he is capable of and his defense-dividing passes, quick moves and smart passing could have made life easier for United.
Of course, the positive for Solskjaer is that they still got the win. But this was once again a performance that provided more questions than answers.
