The Christmas gift for Vicarage road came early as Manchester United were beating 2 goals down by bottom table Watford…

Irrespective of what happens on boxing day, United certainly will have their lowest-ever points tally at the halfway stage of a Premier League season.

The result of the game yesterday was determined by two errors from the power houses in Ole’s camp.

David de Gea is a superb shot-stopper but, he failed to keep out Ismaila Sarr’s tame effort.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a tremendous tackler but he made a poor decision to dive in on Sarr inside the box. The subsequent penalty allowed Watford to double their lead.

It’s not a surprise to pundits, long before now United have been awful; picking up striking points from big teams and giving it away to smaller ones hence, this defeat was also about all too familiar weaknesses.

It’s an obvious fact though frankly worrisome to every United supporter, Remarkably, three of United’s last six Premier League defeats have been against teams starting the day in the relegation zone.

Coupled with that fact, United has only managed to pick up 14 points from the 13 games against teams outside the so-called big six, though they displayed show of combat and serviceman over Manchester City and Tottenham, they were never an issue for this side.

Manchester United seems to be more threatening when they have less than half of the total possession thus, they have won 5 of the 6 Premier League games in which they have had less than half of the ball this season.

In contrast, they have won just one of the dozen games in which they have had more possession.

There is no future in this type of football. Burnley and Newcastle might be able to tick along by picking up their points in games where they allow the opponent to dominate possession but the big teams have to find a way to win with the ball, as well as without it.

For example, Liverpool have won 93 per cent of the matches in which they have had the majority of the possession – only United with their counter-attacking football denying them.

Leicester have a win percentage of 77 per cent in these games. Manchester City and Chelsea, teams who have had difficulty controlling the counter-attack this season, have still won 65 per cent and 56 per cent of these games respectively.

United’s record stands at just eight per cent. Which is a sharp contrast to their fine form during the early days of Solskjaer as interim

According to Garry Neville, United lacks creativity in the final third.

The introduction of Paul Pogba had a significant impact though it was not enough to turn the table. The midfielder made his return from injury during the second half and United looked a very different team as a result. They had more shots in the 29 minutes that he played than the 64 minutes prior to that. They had more touches in the box in that time too.

Pogba was able to drop some threatening passes and through balls to Marcus Rashford just few minutes after he came on and another to Mason Greenwood though they were unable to convert their chances.

There are onseeming suggestions that Pogba wants out, of which some agrees he should be let go of but how wise could that be of the board of directors? He has played more through balls than any other United player this season, despite being on the pitch for only 30 per cent of the Premier League football that the team has played. He has delivered more assists than Scott McTominay and Fred combined, creating more chances from open play than McTominay despite the young Scot having had 933 more minutes in which to conjure something. In fact, with Juan Mata’s best days seemingly long behind him, there is nobody else at United capable of providing the service that the forwards require.

argument often made is that Manchester United would be wise to move him on. That they need players who want to be a part of the club for the long term if they hope to progress with this project.

Perhaps that’s true. But without him, or someone like him, the evidence is growing that Solskjaer’s football is doomed to fail.

Source>>
https://lastpundits.com/2019/12/23/what-happened-to-the-glory-days-of-ole-gunner-solskjaer/