Back to square nil
After a week off, Solskjaer blunts United by leaving too much creativity on the bench
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: Leeds 0, United 0
‘It's not going to be 0-0,’ Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said before the game, ‘I can guarantee it's not going to be 0-0.’ At the end he began by saying, ‘There’s no guarantees in football, that’s for sure.’ Let’s assume the second remark was a joke. If he’d been looking for someone to blame, he might have needed a mirror. He gave Paul Pogba, United’s creative director this year, only 15 minutes of normal time. He gave Edinson Cavani, their wiliest striker, only five minutes. By leaving out those two, he ensured that only one of his lock-pickers, Donny van de Beek and Juan Mata, would get on the field. He managed to insult them both at once, spurning Mata and giving van de Beek just one minute of normal time. The consequence was that United’s faint hopes of stealing the title faded away before our eyes.
After two 3-1 wins, United went back to square nil. This was their seventh 0-0 of the season, which is more than any fan can bear. In the autumn, the stalemates smelt of fear – Solskjaer’s phobia of further horror shows after the 6-1 trouncing by Spurs. That was understandable, but it’s ancient history now and there have have been three more 0-0s since the end of February, at Chelsea, Palace and Leeds. The problem comes down to McFred. Those two are defenders in midfielders’ clothing. They’re Solskjaer’s comfort blanket, but they hardly ever get an assist. If he leaves out Pogba too, in favour of the tireless but artless Dan James, there’s just not enough creativity. United blunted Leeds, but in the process they blunted themselves too.
“After a magnificent year, Fernandes is running on empty – but his idea of empty is another man’s full”
Given a midweek off for the first time this season, United played as if they’d flown back from Eastern Europe in the small hours on Friday. They had 16 attempts but only four were on target and five were blocked, showing that the strikers were too slow to pull the trigger. Their best player was Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has got better at going forward, but not that much better.
Marcus Rashford, who isn’t fully fit, still had United’s best effort with that dipping, swerving free kick. And Bruno Fernandes, who is off colour by his standards and was well marked by Kalvin Phillips, still made things happen. He might have put United ahead if James hadn’t got in his way when Mason Greenwood’s silky turn created an opening straight after half-time. He should have put them ahead when Wan-Bissaka’s cut-back found him in space, but he screwed his shot wide. And he could have had an assist with a beautiful long ball to Rashford, who chose to square it to James when he might have been better going it alone. After a magnificent year, Fernandes is running on empty – but his idea of empty is another man’s full.
United remain top of the form table, with 16 points from their last six games, four more than City. But they have never truly been top of the form this season. When they went top of the table, through Pogba’s sizzling volley at Turf Moor, hardly anyone thought they would stay there. The silver medal, frustrating as it is, will be no injustice. And there’s a danger now that they’ll be pipped by Leicester, in a tit-for-tat retort for last summer. Leicester play twice before United appear again in the league, and as those games are Palace home and Southampton away, they may well be only two points behind by Friday night. United then entertain Liverpool, whose away form has been secretly good (four wins in the last six). If that’s a draw, and both teams win the following weekend – Leicester home to Newcastle, United at Villa – Leicester, who are stronger away than at home, would fancy their chances of drawing level at Old Trafford on May 12 (or more likely the week after, as that round is expected to be delayed to allow fans in). Leicester may have to go to Chelsea on May 12 instead, before facing them again in the Cup Final three days later, and United might be relying on Chelsea to help them out. There’s a simple way to make all this academic: just beat Liverpool.