For the first few weeks of 2021, some Man United fans had mentally engraved the Premier League trophy with their beloved club’s name, booked the open-top bus for the parade and ordered the red and white bunting and confetti. Enjoying the sight of Liverpool’s injury-ridden makeshift squad struggle in front of goal, Man City in a funk of their own and year-three Mourinho commencing ahead of schedule, United fans rightly savoured the opening weeks of the year with the club sat perched at the summit of the league table in the month of January for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
“21 Is Coming" circulated on social media, sometimes in jest and other times backed by genuine belief, and what a chapter in the club’s history it would be if they won their 21st league title in 2021. Not every fan got carried away, knowing that Liverpool and City would no doubt rediscover form and that United reached the top of the league table largely by grinding out results in laboured, often unspectacular but nonetheless effective displays against the likes of Wolves, Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Fulham, often conceding early before gradually asserting their superiority over the opposition as games wore on. Aided by Bruno Fernandes' metronomic direction of United’s most creative moments and a reinvigorated (although likely wantaway) Paul Pogba, finally it seemed there was a midfield axis that could be the springboard for attacking chances.
This wasn’t sustainable in the end, as the club hosted relegation fodder Sheffield United at the end of January and managed to make them look like world-beaters in a 2–1 defeat brought about by one of the most insipid and baffling Man United performances I’ve ever watched, bringing the title talk to a shudderring stop. The players looked and played like holographic projections of their real selves, lethargic and uninterested, as if all the hype from being top of the league for a whopping two weeks had gone to their head and Sheffield United were suddenly beneath them, unworthy of their time. Errant first touches splayed the football all over the pitch and possession was turned over time and time again from shoddy, half-baked passes that were misdirected or intercepted. The two Sheffield goals were completely avoidable, as De Gea got bullied on a corner once more and was culpable along with Maguire for needlessly giving away possession in the box by clearing the ball back to his opponents with a short pass instead of a safer agricultural hoof into the night sky.
On paper, it’s hard to argue with the improvements in the team’s stats since the start of 2020, with Messrs. Fernandes and Cavani in particular enforcing the expected standards. The team are on their longest unbeaten run of away games in the club’s history. Luke Shaw is playing some of the best football of his career this season, and always looks dangerous when bombing down the left flank. A fit Eric Bailly is now undoubtedly United’s best centre-back. United have taken some notable scalps this season too, notably Liverpool, PSG and RB Leipzig, trouncing Leeds 6–2 along the way.
However, the club were also on the receiving end of a 6–1 mauling at home by, of all people, Mourinho’s Spurs. Coupled with the loss to Sheffield and a 3–1 defeat to Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season , you get a sense that this United team have a knack for losing in the most ignominious circumstances possible, where the nature of the defeat amplifies the broader context of the fixture, such as the return of a former manager as opponent, or losing to the team at the bottom of the table. They got dumped out of the champions league in the group stage by losing to PSG at home, Leipzig away and İstanbul Başakşehir away. There have also been alarming dropoffs in performance by Rashford, Martial, Wan-Bissaka and De Gea. Bailly is so injury prone that it’s not unreasonable to wonder if he’s made of glass, Weetabix or Ryvita. He is an injured man plagued by a football career. The wastefulness in front of goal and the ineptitude of Solksjaer’s preferred CB pairing of Maguire and Lindelof are infuriating. Lindelof must have some dirt on Solksjaer because he starts almost every game despite regularly getting turned inside out in one-on-ones and getting pulled out of position or leaving someone unmarked.
All this points to a season full of unpredictable results that no team has been immune from, and a team that aren’t quite the finished article. There is a definite issue with mentality in the squad as there are games when they just don’t look that bothered against so-called “lesser teams" and then produce season defining performances in games where they’re the underdog. Solksjaer has made his share of mistakes along the way too, opting for an overly defensive selection and shape in the away fixture to Leipzig when they just needed a draw to qualify. He left Fred on the pitch on a yellow card during the home game against PSG when the world and it’s mother saw his inevitable sending off coming.
There’s also a broader question of the extent of Solksjaer’s tactical nous. United often look electric against teams that play a high line or dominate possession, as the speed of Fred, McTominay, Rashford, Shaw can break at devastating pace. I include Bailly in that group when he’s not in a cast, wheelchair, sling or other prostheses.
However, ask United to break down a team who sit behind the ball and cede possession and they’ll struggle. In that scenario, Solksjaer’s instructions seem to be to just pass the ball from side to side until they get a free kick or a penalty.
When I think of Klopp, Guardiola, Mourinho or Bielsa, I know what their footballing philosophy is — Geigenpress, slick possession / constant pressure , park the bus and attack maniacally, often suicidally, respectively. I just don’t know if playing on the counter is enough to constitute a philosophy. Ole gets a free pass a lot of the time in the English media because a few of his old teammates are pundits or write columns for papers, and they consistently deflect blame from him back onto the players after a bad result, which I agree with a lot of the time, but I don’t get a sense from this manager of what his managerial identity is, or that he has nuanced and well-articulated tactical objectives beyond “hit them on the break.”
The questions are— where can they go from here and who can take them there?
It feels like the nucleus of a title-winning team is there — Fernandes has been a revelation and credit to Solksjaer and the board for signing him. His stats are outrageous. Cavani is a proven killer in front of goal. Shaw, Pogba, Fred and McTominay are playing well.
There are still too many passengers in the squad though and players who don’t meet the standards expected of a United player. Ultimately Solksjaer’s future and indeed his legacy will depend on whether he has the ruthlessness to drop underperforming players, and whether the club will back him by scouting and signing their replacements.
The United hierarchy also need to own up to their mistakes instead of persevering with players who for one reason or another haven’t lived up to expectations - I’m looking at Maguire here, for whom United got fleeced by Leicester in the transfer market and who is definitely not team captain on merit unless the captaincy at United is a purely ambassadorial role, with no actual seniority or responsibilities attached. I’m guessing here, but it seems to me that he gets the armband because he’s English and United need some way to legitimise the outrageous amount of money they spent on him- Bruno is the de facto captain of the team.
I have serious doubts about Martial’s future at the club. The 90 minutes of good play he produces occasionally are not worth the strolling, sulking and pouting in the 5 or 6 games before and after. De Gea has gone so far off the boil that it looks unlikely he’ll ever get his mojo back. Greenwood seems to have regressed this season and while Rashford is winning plaudits off the pitch, he is far too wasteful and selfish on it, constantly opting to run into congested defences and turn over possession rather than pass to a teammate. Wan Bissaka has lapses in concentration and gets dragged out of position far too easily, while Lindelof is a slightly better Swedish Phil Jones. In other words, a squad player, not someone to build a defense around.
United fans got a reality check this week. Statistically, the team are in a better place than 12 months ago, but the positive results at the end of 2020 flattered to deceive, papering over some of the shortcomings that linger at the club. With the greener grass of Mauricio Pochettino committed to PSG for the foreseeable future, the pressure is off Ole for the time being. The question is whether they’re genuinely on a sustained upward trajectory or if their limitations are merely mitigated by external circumstances.
