By Nazir Jarmajo
At the start of August when the Premier League season was about to kickoff, United had already sealed the signing of Ole’s long term target in Jadon Sancho from Dortmund worth £73 million and was close to reaching an agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of Raphael Varane.
Ole believes these two will take United to the next level in his bid to close the gap between United and City as well as Liverpool. Varane, a World Cup winner who has 4 Champions League titles to his name and has won 14 out of 14 finals he has played. A serial winner with vast experience which can help United win under Ole, No doubt.
Leeds United got beaten, battered and bruised at the hands of Ole’s United. After that interesting encounter, many United fans will tell you “Were challenging for the title this year” after finishing 2nd last season. And in addition to that, a chance of recruiting another illustrious serial winner presented itself. Cristiano Ronaldo returned after departing Turin.
Ole and United had no time to think twice about re-signing the Portuguese five-time ballon d’Or winner whom many regards as the GOAT. A man who has won in Manchester, Madrid and Turin looked to be the perfect fit that completes this United team to bring an end to their barren run for trophies.
Ronaldo, the working work of arts, bagged a brace on his second debut just to show glimpses of himself to the hundreds of thousands perhaps millions of Manchester United supporters who saw him wearing the red jersey of United 18 years ago. Lingard and Bruno had their names taken on the scoresheet and Pogba added two assists to the five he is carrying to talk of positives for United but on the other side, United seemed very open in defence.
Despite the acquisition of Wan Bissaka for £50 million, Varane for £34 million and most importantly the £80 million signing of Harry Maguire from Leicester, United still concede goals. To cut things short, they’ve conceded in 9 consecutive leagues game at home for the first time in 50 years. Where does the problem lie with this sort of spending?
Young boys beat United very easily in the Champions League after a silly red card for Wan Bissaka.
Ole couldn’t restructure his team after the red card and that tells you the lack of experience this man is carrying. If it were United neighbours talking of City or Liverpool they could have easily won due to the managerial intelligence in those technical crews.
Jesse Lingard came off the bench to narrowly help United snatch away the 3 points away at West Ham as David de Gea made a Last-minute penalty save to deny Mark Noble an equaliser. Ronaldo also scored in that game to make it 4 goals in 3 games for the 36 years old. United lost to the same West Ham in the 3rd round of the Carabao Cup.
This is the point where the real problem starts for Solskjaer. Three years managing a club like Manchester United without a trophy and still exiting the Carabao Cup in the early stages spells trouble for the manager. Another defeat, Another lacklustre performance from United against Aston Villa at Old Trafford piles more mystery on Ole.
Ronaldo did what Ronaldo does in the 95th minutes of United’s Champions League clash with Villarreal to secure the win for United on the back of very poor performance. If not for De Gea it would have been 3 points for Arnaut Danjuma and Co.
On matchday 8 of the Premier League season, United drew 1-1 with Everton without two of their best players in Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin. United have now earned only 14 points out of a possible 24 despite not playing any of the big boys. Surprised? Not at all.
After the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, many assumed United have got 8 winnable games at the start before the clash against Leicester but the reverse is the case. 5 points dropped in the last two outings at Old Trafford against Aston Villa and Everton as far as I am concerned. 2 wins from the last 6 games give you every reason to know why Ronaldo and Pogba are among the 5 United stars not happy with Solskjaer. Resting your top scorer and your top assist provider this season and still not starting Jesse Lingard on the verge of an international break will definitely go against you. This is how poor Ole is when it comes to team selection. Mc Fred has been his favourite pivot in midfield, yet United concede more goals when they play than when Matic plays and he keeps on selecting them week in week out. So also Ronaldo isn’t a number 9. Despite his age, he always delivers his best numbers when playing on the wings.
United have no direction at the moment, No playing style in the three years reign of Ole, No system and no philosophy as far as yours sincerely is concerned and that is the difference between United and clubs ahead of them in the Premier League table for the meantime.
Clashes against Young Boys, Wolves, West Ham and Villarreal to mention a few from this season tells you United need a better manager to go to the next level of football if they’re ambitious. The sooner United take action in the managerial situation of the club the better for Ronaldo and co.
October- November will be hot as hell for United and that might be the end for Ole and his inexperienced coaching crew.
Jarmajo is the publisher of kurra.com.ng
