Ole Gunnar Solskjaer crossed the Rubicon as Manchester United manager on Sunday, the day he was humiliated by his predecessor José Mourinho in a 6-1 loss to Tottenham at Old Trafford that could prove to be the moment that triggered the search for his successor. .
Mauricio Pochettino, whom Mourinho replaced at Spurs last November, is still available and his shadow is looming more and more over Solskjaer. And after such a brutal defeat, which featured a lousy performance by United players, it would not be surprising if the Argentine received a call from Executive Vice President Ed Woodward during the international break.
If that turns out to be the case, Solskjaer cannot have complaints. There really is no place to hide right now, regardless of what hand your bosses have dealt you in the transfer market during the current transfer window, which closes at midnight CET on Monday.
The fact is, if Solskjaer loses his job, he will have to accept as much blame as anyone else.
– Maguire 2/10 while United is humbled
– Son, Kane 8/10 when Spurs smash six
Unquestionably, he has been disappointed by the club during the transfer window; United will almost certainly not sign main target Jadon Sancho before the deadline, while no serious effort has been made to meet the manager’s demand for a dominant central midfielder – a need confirmed by lousy defense against the Spurs.
As in the last window of Mourinho signings as United manager, during the summer of 2018, the targets identified by the man in charge of the team have not been recruited and, as always, the club is embarking on a fight of deadlines to close deals. Free agent Edinson Cavani and Porto left-back Alex Telles are expected to sign.
Solskjaer wanted Erling Haaland last December, but despite a personal friendship with the player’s father and having worked with the young forward at Molde, Woodward was unable to come to an agreement before Borussia Dortmund took over the teenager. from FC Salzburg. Besides Sancho, RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano is another target who has not come close to signing.
But every coach has to accept the frustration of not getting the players they want, and the key to the job is working with the available resources and improving the players.
Solskjaer could argue that he’s gotten the best of Anthony Martial and tapped into Mason Greenwood’s undoubted potential, but the majority of United’s team have regressed under his leadership.
Considering what followed, it’s worth remembering that United opened the scoring after two minutes against Spurs, with Bruno Fernandes converting a penalty. But what followed was goal after goal with one chaotic error after another, evidence that Solskjaer’s defenders act as if they were not properly trained.
When a team has sent off a man (United got Martial sent off for slapping Erik Lamela in the 29th minute when the score was 2-1), the professional mindset is to stop the damage and end the game. None of those nous were shown and Solskjaer, hands clasped on the touchline, did nothing to cajole or inspire his players to action.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, this was a triumph that will calm critics who suggest Mourinho has lost his magic touch. The Spurs were playing their fourth game in a week and made the worst possible start, but they took the lead within seven minutes of falling behind and, thereafter, advanced as their coach reveled in the circumstances.
Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane each scored twice for the visiting team, while French duo Tanguy Ndombele and Serge Aurier also scored to crown displays of command. Mourinho has led his club through a troubled period and Tottenham enter the international break with growing confidence and with the return of Gareth Bale approaching.
On the contrary, the United players were terrible. If Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire don’t put the red jersey back on after their inept demonstrations, they couldn’t have any complaints.
Pogba acted like a wrecking ball … against his own team. The foul on Ben Davies, which resulted in Tottenham’s sixth goal penalty, was so severe that a replay would not be seen in child’s play. But Pogba is a £ 89 million midfielder with a reputation that far exceeds his contribution.
This is a United team that has conceded 11 goals in three league games so far this season and, for that, there can be no excuses. They were down to 10 men against the Spurs, not seven, so there really can be no attempt to mitigate the embarrassing score.
Just three games into the Premier League season, United are miles away from champion Liverpool and even nine points behind Everton, so they can forget about winning the title for another year. Maybe no one at Old Trafford believed they could win it anyway, but it’s not even Halloween and they are already out of the race.
The big question now is how long United’s owners, the Glazer family, will put up with such appalling performances and results. History shows that they seldom act quickly; David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho were fired months after the first signs of decline appeared, so Solskjaer could last quite a while.
When United and Spurs met in this match last December, Pochettino’s specter overshadowed the game. Almost a year later, he remains unemployed but will not be available forever. As the cameras focused on Woodward towards the end of his club’s latest humiliation, he was seen texting on his phone.
If you weren’t planning a change in the manager’s office, there will be a growing number who think you should have.
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