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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s comments following Manchester United’s 5-0 win over RB Leipzig, a second consecutive Champions League loss by one of the league’s five leaders, is sure to raise some questions from fans.
Donny van de Beek and Paul Pogba were some of the players who made the team and absolutely led one of last season’s UCL semifinalists.
[ MORE: Three things learned from Man Utd – RBL ]
Julian Nagelsmann is perhaps the most promising young coach in the world. His team had no answers, perhaps because United have played 4-2-3-1 in the vast majority of their 2020 games with Solksjaer.
Leipzig have allowed three goals in five Bundesliga games this season. United could have doubled that.
Solksjaer, known more for his man management than his tactics, chose what looked like a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2 diamond. Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial were relentless at the top and Van de Beek was more than capable below him.
Playing Pogba as an active left central midfielder with fighter Fred on the other side of serious Nemanja Matic, Leipzig got confused at times.
So how does Solskjaer respond in a week that he had to explain to people why he wasn’t playing Van de Beek?
“It was a case of using the equipment,” Solksjaer said. “We had to rest some players and those who entered did great. … It is very good for the players to know that we have a strong team to choose from. We are very happy with the beginning. We have played against two very good teams, two difficult games and we have done fantastic. We show our own quality and if we focus on the next job and the next job and the next job, who knows how far they will go. We are going to Istanbul next week and we want three points there too ”.
This is all very well and of course Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford will be back in the starting XI against Arsenal, given their reputations and super roles on Wednesday.
But Solskjaer would be remiss in not heavily testing the same staff and it will be interesting to see if he can resist starting with Pogba rather than returning to Scott McTominay. Will he go back to 4-2-3-1 and eliminate Van de Beek as well to get Daniel James back in the lineup?
Frankly, I don’t know how he can, especially considering that the other time he walked away from 4-2-3-1, he beat PSG in Paris (again).
Premier League teams have largely uncovered Solskjaer’s usual lineup, with just the magic of Bruno Fernandes and the occasional go-to victories from Marcus Rashford. Their 1W-2L start to the league season should have been 0-3 based on xG statistics, which say that only the 4-1 win over Newcastle was a decisive performance.
I guess what I’m saying is that I hope this match has opened his eyes a bit because it was a brilliant plan and who knows if it would have been even more decisive with Fernandes and Rashford there from the start. And the diamond, if pursued, would make it a bit more difficult for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to find his favorite pockets on the left (a model of philosophy that Liverpool established for the rest of the league this year and has likely contributed to the downfall of the star of Gabon).
Because Ole, my friend, it was so much fun watching United today. That can’t be said for any PL performance this season, aside from the final moments against Newcastle (Brighton’s win was entertaining, but the Seagulls deserved three points and didn’t get one).
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