Inconsistent United not ready for the rematch of the 2020-21 Europa League final

By -

With three defeats in their last four games, Ole Gunnar Solskjær is a man under pressure to deliver and questions are being asked of United's hierarchy, if they are really ambitious enough to drive the club forward.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manager of Manchester United with Bruno Fernandes after the Premier League match between Manchester United and Aston Villa at Old Trafford on September 25, 2021 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

The Norwegian has recorded numbers that got David Moyes sacked after the loss to West Ham United making it just five wins for the club in their last 10 games. Another loss in the weekend at home to Aston Villa worsened the criticism of the manager.

United's home loss to West Ham is their first to the Hammers at the Old Trafford Stadium in 14 years, while it was also followed by their first defeat to Villa, ending a run of 16 games without losing.

They have disappointingly dropped points in the league to Southampton and Aston Villa and these dropped points will surely haunt them come the end of the season.

Villarreal after the Europa league final have kept their form and were unfortunate to be on the losing side in the UEFA Super Cup as they were the better side but lost on penalties to Champions League winner, Chelsea.

Coming into the contest against United, they last played a goalless draw against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, a result that will bring much needed confidence for their trip to England.

The are currently unbeaten in the league this season and have drawn five of the six games played. Unai Emery's side have played both Madrid clubs away from home, and that they are still unbeaten should give Manchester United the notion they have a difficult task at hand.

The Yellow Submarines will also be facing Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a thorn for them whilst in Madrid.

The Portuguese was directly involved in 18 goals in 19 games (13 goals, five assists) against the Spanish side and they will be wary of the havocs he can cause when they kickoff at the Old Trafford Stadium on Wednesday.

The duo of Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire picked up injuries in Saturdays loss to Aston Villa and Wednesday's clash might come too soon for then, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka is suspended for picking up a red card in the 2-1 loss to Young Boys.

Francis Coquelin will also miss the game having been red carded in the 2-2 draw against Atalanta. Gerard Moreno, Juan Fourth and Samuel Chukwueze are all injured for Unai Emery side.

Both sides will be looking to avoid a defeat and knowing anything but a win will increase the pressure on him, Ole Gunnar Solskjær will be hoping his side can get a win to relief the tense atmosphere around the club.


Afolabi Kehinde Hassan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ralf Rangnick proffered a permanent solution but United choose to make more casualties with Erik Ten Hag

By -
Image
Ralf Rangnick appeared to have unraveled the puzzle at Manchester United during his short stint as the club's interim manager but the hierarchy did not take heed to his priceless advice. Albeit the German did not enjoy the best of time in the helm of affairs in Old Trafford, Rangnick, who had proven to be more of a administrative minded man prior to his appointment at the club did left blueprints that could have healed the club completely. Looking back and you'll realize it could have been more worth it had speculations of him becoming the club's Director after leaving the Coaching role come to pass. Even in his early days as a professional football coach, Rangnick did not have a reputation of thriving when the stake is high but he flourishes more in an environment that gives him the avenue to build from scratch. The notion was proven truth during his time at Stuttgart, Hannover and even Schalke, where he helped all these teams finesse nightmares into glamour. His appointme
Read more

Doping in sports and the popular culprits in football

By -
Image
Doping in sports is a huge crime as it damages its credibility, and athletes are viewed to have committed an offense when they test positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED). What is doping ? According to Merriam Webster defines doping as the use of a substance (such as an anabolic steroid or erythropoietin) or technique (such as blood doping) to illegally improve athletic performance. In sports, such action is regarded as cheat, and grave consequences always come with it. Not only that, but on the players' part and their safety, as in the long run, such substances have a long-lasting side effect on the health of the players. Why do athletes dope (take illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED)) ? There are several reasons take illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and it also depends on the type of sports the athletes in question do. The majority of the reasons is to boost performance. Athletes are also tempted when injured and do not have enough time to recover before
Read more

A sign of what is to come but no excuse for Chelsea's late capitulation in the London derby

By -
Image
Chelsea ended a run of three straight home defeats to Arsenal in an enthralling London derby match in the Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. While many will see it as a positive omen for the host, which is rightly so, it was very poor game management by both the players and the manager to allow the visitors snatch a point later on the night. Arsenal was there for the taking. It was the worst display by Mikel Arteta's side in recent years and despite having a two goal cushion, Mauricio Pochettino's side were unable to see out the win from a very comfortable position. Cole Palmer and Mykaylo Mudryk continue to show signs of finally settling into their rhythm under Mauricio Pochettino, much to the delight of the home support as the Blues were all over their rival from the North for the first 70 minutes in the Bridge. Both players also scored in either half, with Mykaylo Mudryk scoring his first ever Chelsea goal in the Stamford Bridge with a wonderful cross-cum-shot, which caugh
Read more