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Almost a month ago, Manchester United repeated their extraordinary feat of winning away at Paris-Saint Germain.
Unlike the unlikely victory in March 2019, this was a masterclass from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when his team showed up in the French capital and fooled a team so familiar with victory.
Like the first victory, United’s triumph in Paris gave Solskjaer more time in the Old Trafford hot seat, but the same level of faith has not been reciprocated by the player he is perhaps most indebted to.
The most extraordinary thing about United’s recent victory at PSG is that they did it without star defender Harry Maguire. Even at his lowest ebb, he remains the club’s most reliable center-back, although Victor Lindelof’s recent form has been more impressive.
However, it was Axel Tuanzebe’s confident demonstration that really stole the show when he bullied Kylian Mbappé and blanked Neymar with little more than a whimper.
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We’ve seen such outstanding individual performances before over the years, but few have come in such emphatic circumstances as Tuanzebe’s display against two of the best in Europe.
His flawless performance suggested a springboard to an incredible career with the team, the kind of display we look back on in the years to come as the true arrival of his talent. However, a month later, he has only played 77 minutes of football, and almost half of them have been right back.
Solskjaer has wanted to ease the pressures on the Rochdale-bred defender since his return from such a long injury suspension, but there is a sense of hypocrisy given the overconfidence in Lindelof, who has admitted struggling so far this season.
Even after pocketing Mbappé, it was evident to see Tuanzebe on the bench for the Premier League matches against Arsenal and Chelsea, while his poor performance against Istanbul Basaksehir was unfair to criticize due to wider flaws in the team. .
It’s pretty obvious that the 23-year-old deserves some special treatment given his long torment from injuries, but he’s now at an age that the club hierarchy has identified as ‘perfect’ for any player new to their squad.
While he is not a new addition to the transfer, he is effectively classified in the ‘new player’ group given that he is finally in shape and feeling brand new after his difficult first season at Old Trafford.
United entered the international hiatus by winning what was arguably their biggest game of the season at Everton on Saturday.
The Reds under pressure came from behind to beat the Toffees thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ double and Edinson Cavani’s first goal for United.
United are on a two-week hiatus and many of their stars are headed for international service; We will keep track of how everyone is doing and preparations for their next Premier League match against West Brom.
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Lindelof and Maguire’s involvement internationally next week should only strengthen Tuanzebe’s own hopes of returning to the starting lineup against West Brom next weekend, despite Solskjaer’s temptation to stick with a regular partner.
However, on a weekend where United have been linked with Dayot Upamecano, David Carmo and Dan-Axel Zagadou, it is time they gave their own exciting central defender another chance to prove their credentials.
The cliché used to be if a player ‘could do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke’, a cold night in Manchester will have to suffice for now.
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