Despite Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his Manchester United side losing the Manchester derby to neighbours City 2-0 last weekend, his ability to make things right is still being backed by the board.
How long before it’s safe to say that Man United are well and truly out of the title race that they were once labelled as the second/third/fourth favourites to take the crown this season — not only because of their strong ending in last season’s run — but also due to the business completed during the summer.
Adding a world-class defender in Raphaël Varane and the almost always on target Ronaldo to the ranks, United certainly moved ahead of their counterparts in the running for the Premier League title.
Move on 11 matchdays in England’s top flight and the Red Devils are nine points off leaders Chelsea and have already lost to two other title contenders, Liverpool and Man City, and have a total of four losses for the campaign; they are one loss away from having as many losses as wins (5 wins).
You’d believe Manchester United’s chances to be strong, only 9 points off
Nine points off the top spot after 11 games played barely sounds worrying, and in the good old days, whoever were that many points off of the title race would have somehow caught up. But times have changed and nine points could be well off the mark for any sort of silverware.
It’s not the fact that the Old Trafford boys have lost four games but how they failed to collect points that speak volumes of what is not right at the Manchester club. Thankfully for Solskjær, the club’s hierarchy and superstar Ronaldo feels he is still the right man for the job.
"Ronaldo is arguably the biggest personality in the dressing room and there is the feeling that should Solskjaer lose the support of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner then the axe will come down on him.Recent reports suggest Ronaldo backs Solskjaer to turn things around at Old Trafford and is said to be holding the dressing room together at United. (Via: mirror.co.uk)"
Things being said are: Solskjær has no game plan, no structure, and no strategy. Even the team selection has come under scrutiny one too many times. What hasn’t aided the Norwegian are the one or two injuries to key players — one such player now out for a lengthy spell is Paul Pogba.
One of the most important absentees is defender and summer arrival Varane. This doesn’t improve his fightback but many believed prior to Matchday 1 that United have the squad to fight on most fronts, if not, all.
So this begs the question… Does he have the know-how to get things back on track?
So how long before we see Manchester’s board and club turn on Ole Gunnar Solskjær?
In all honestly, it is surprising to see him in a job currently, him and his backroom staff; most to all thought Manchester City was the final nail in the coffin but there is still time left to save his post.
Manchester United’s next four after the international break:
- Watford vs Manchester United
- Villarreal vs Manchester United
- Chelsea vs Manchester United
- Manchester United vs Arsenal
The first three welcome back fixtures are all on the road for Ole and his boys. The trip to Vicarage Road is a must-win and no questions asked. They lost all three encounters to three of the traditional top six, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham. In these games, they’ve conceded seven goals and scored none.
The next three will be the ultimate test for Solskjær and will make or break him; Villarreal still haunts them with recent memories of the Europa League Final loss while the Blues are unbeaten in their last five EPL outings and the Gunners remain unbeaten for the last eight league games.