Match preview: Man Utd v Barcelona

If Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does somehow manage to do a Roberto Di Matteo and steer Manchester United to Champions League glory 20 years on from his finest hour, no one can accuse him of having it easy.

Take a bow TFGM!

Juventus. PSG. Barcelona. Three giants of the European game, three genuine heavyweight sides who set out on their Champions League journey as among the favourites to go all the way to the final in Madrid. Football’s fickle fate must have a very warped sense of humour to pair United with all three. But to be the best you need to beat the best, and they don’t come much better than Barcelona.

Ernesto Valverde’s 2019 Barca may not be the vintage of their Pep Guardiola 2009-2011 peak (let’s not talk about that, right…), but they are a club, and a city, synonymous with football par excellence.

Sitting eleven points clear at the top of La Liga, they are far more than just a certain fella by the name of Messi. A solid spine of Marc – Andre ter Stegen, ex-Red Gerard Pique, probably the world’s finest left-back in Jordi Alba and the unfamiliar revelation of Arthur in the middle. Then there’s the return of old foes –  step forward Messrs Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho. A plethora of talent as far as the eye can see.

But, having suffered three successive quarter-final defeats (an omen, maybe?) and a shambolic 4-4 draw with Villarreal last week, Barcelona are prone to the occasional mental lapse just like PSG who collapsed so gloriously and improbably against Solskjaer’s United in the last 16.

The cast list may be different for last time, but new heroes are waiting to be acclaimed and these are two ties that will stir the emotions. With Ole at the wheel, it does feel like anything could be possible. A Spanish side has won the past five editions of the Champions League. Can United ensure that run will not be extended by another season? One thing’s for sure – Manchester United should never be written off.

Solskjaer said: " Confidence is high. The result and what we did against PSG and how we have climbed the table, clawing back points. I think the players have given themselves and the supporters great belief. We lose games, we should have won. Wolves in the FA Cup we are disappointed with.
" I can feel the tension, the excitement. I felt the mood ahead of PSG home game was different. We have learnt from that PSG game, how we got dragged into making fouls. European football, you have to be more patient in your tackles. Some of these players will have tricks up their sleeves."

Paul Pogba missed that never-to-be-forgotten night in the Parc des Princes – a night which feels like a lifetime ago now – but the Frenchman will be available again having served his ban.
Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic are expected to miss out, and United will also be missing Matteo Darmian, Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly and Alexis Sanchez. Barcelona have a clean bill of health. 

Form guide: Man Utd W W L W L L Barcelona W W W W D W
Match odds: Man Utd 11/4 Draw 5/2 Barcelona 10/11
Referee: Italian Gianluca Rocchi takes charge of his sixth United tie

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the same problems as his predecessor

So how many square pegs have been jammed into the gaping round hole that is the Manchester United defence? Ander Herrera came and went against Tottenham, Scott McTominay endured widespread ignominy at West Ham, Nemanja Matic at Southampton and now Ashley Young - a 34-year-old former winger - at Wolves. All have appeared in a back three since August. Even the rubbish Marcos Rojo (again, why is he even still here), emerged from the physio's room to cameo in a defensive trident that is never a deterrent for opponents.

 For a squad that has sporadically used a defensive trio, United's record in the 3-5-2 is dire; played six, won none, drawn two, lost four and conceded 15. All six opponents have scored at least twice and one of them - Southampton - felt so short-changed they sacked their manager two days later.

 On a day Jose Mourinho reminisced about his time at the club, United endured a performance comparable with his final months. There was a porous back three, Paul Pogba had to accommodate McTominay and the result was negative. It is now three defeats from the last four and the longest of managerial honeymoons has finally ended. The carriage is turning into a pumpkin.

Mourinho was mulling over playing Matic in a back three during pre-season and United's dearth of quality centre-backs was going to be a problem, regardless of who the manager would be. Solskjaer has enhanced Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling but United do not have a collective back three capable of functioning. Smalling and Jones, as is their wont, followed up a secure display against Watford with an insecure one.
 Just like the Tottenham fixture contrasts last year, it was catastrophically and cataclismically clumsy and featured an own goal. Different manager, same problems.

United sources said they were prepared to pay £100million for the perfect profile of defender in August and they need to do as they say. It is one of two areas in their squad (along with the right flank) where they are going have to pay a premium. United have spent £76.9m on centre-backs in the last five years whereas Manchester City shelled out £182.7m on bolstering that department with four additions. Liverpool spent £75m on Virgil van Dijk alone and their five-year total on centre halves is £127.7m. United? Rojo, Smalling, Jones and Young received renewals this season and last. What was it The Notorious B.I.G. rapped? It's like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.


 Money might be a solution for Paul Pogba, though. In these shallow times, the go-to method for clubs to reinforce a player's focus is remuneration and Pogba's regression has been so stark Ed Woodward might resolve to offer him a substantial pay hike. His Excellency was not excellent again at Molineux, where the gloves came off from Pogba. He tossed his mittens at the away dugout in a first-half where he was switched from left to right with McTominay. How it must smart for Pogba that, even with McTominay's biggest champion no longer at the wheel, he is now the apple of Solskjaer's eye. Caption this. The definition of irony.
The starry-eyed fans forget how destabilising Pogba was until Solskjaer was installed as caretaker manager on December 18 and he was at it again during his time with France. Pogba fluttered his eyelashes and sent flitartious advances in Real Madrid's direction as the Spanish seduction began last week in Zinedine Zidane's press conference.

  Gary Neville sussed Pogba when he was at his zenith in February. "In the back of my mind, the problems that we witnessed in the first two years will emanate again at some point. Because I think his agent will be into him, he'll be wanting his little move away, he'll be wanting his next pay-off and that's my problem with it. His commitment to the club has got to be long-term." Mino Raiola advised Pogba to rejoin United on the proviso he move to Spain after three years. If United are to scupper that plan, the panacea for the puppeteer and Pogba is more money.
Pogba is not the only individual playing as though his head has been turned. David de Gea was as timid as Hugo Lloris when Jonny's cross dropped in the six-yard area and his lack of bravery suggested he did not want to muddy his kit. De Gea's protracted contract negotiations are relevant, considering errors crept into his game four years ago - when he was about to enter the final year of his previous United deal. Alexis Sanchez has left the United attack and wage structure lopsided.
And beyond the soft centre and marquee mither, the right-sided forward position was occupied by a right-back in Diogo Dalot against Wolves. Another square peg in a round hole.

David de Gea is no longer Man Utd's Mr Infallible

In a Manchester United side that has been seemingly in a constant state of flux for the past eight years, there has one been man swimming against the tide. One man that has been the epitome of consistency, one last solitary ray of hope and a beacon of light where there appeared to be none. Even the best fall down sometimes. Sometimes, just occasionally, even the stars refuse to shine.
 David de Gea has often been singled out as Manchester United's saviour and a shoo-in for player of the season, having been named in the PFA Team of the Year for four consecutive seasons. After the defeat at Wolves on Tuesday, 'Dave' found himself thrust into the spotlight for entirely different reasons.
It was De Gea's careless throw out to Fred that resulted in Diogo Jota's equaliser after the Brazilian had lost the loose ball. When Chris Smalling put the ball into his own net for the comedic winner, De Gea failed to react. A keeper of his calibre should be throwing everything on the line to stop the cross, but instead DDG remained rooted to the spot as if running through treacle. He didn't even call for the ball or move for it when the cross came in. De Gea can't come for the first ball but when it's the second phase he should come out, spread himself and take everything - including probably stitches - for the team.
 It epitomised what, by his own metronomically high standards, has been a poor season, stemming - perhaps - from an underwhelming World Cup campaign when he was made something of a scapegoat for La Roja's early exit.

What followed has been a season littered with costly mistakes from De Gea, who is out of contract in the summer and looks increasingly likely to leave in June. Having only been denied their much sought-after man thanks to a dodgy fax machine in 2015, it looks as though Real Madrid will get De Gea this time. What Real Madrid want, they usually get one way or t'other. The uncertainty about the will he won't he saga has undoubtedly had an affect on De Gea's normally impeccable form and morale. Certainly he has appeared a man at odds with himself for many months now. De Gea is using Alexis Sanchez's deal to bump up wages that the board are simply unwilling to pay. As our best player and arguably the finest exponent of his craft on the planet, De Gea deserves to earn more than a £500,000 per week bench warmer, so you can understand why he wants to leave.

 It's an impasse and one that needs to be resolved soon. It may already be too late as De Gea is not at the races with his head, and heart, seemingly set on a move away from Old Trafford. The prospect of losing a player whom has almost literally single handedly kept United heads above water used to be unpalatable. No longer.

 There are at several other errors that instantly spring to mind, two against Arsenal this year alone. Shkodran Mustafi's header squirmed out his grip to gift the Gunners an opener at Old Trafford in December, before he completely missed Granit Xhaka's speculative strike from distance in the reverse fixture a few weeks ago. Lucas Moura's effort for Spurs should have been bread and butter but instead went straight through him back in August.

Even the best are far from infallible and De Gea has become a worry.

It already feels like OGS is fighting a losing battle

One of my favourite sayings was purportedly coined by one of the greatest exponents of his craft the world has ever seen - Albert Einstein. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Whether the 17th-century physicist actually said it or not is by the by. It holds sways and epitomises the current state of affairs at Manchester United.

Is there a worse run club in the Premier League than United? My local non league club are in better boardroom shape than the shambolic mess presided over by the G*****s and their penny-pinching puppet Ed Woodward. I'm giving Woodward no credit for the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appointment. Even he couldn't mess that one up.

We've no doubt finally got the right man in the dugout, but his hands are tied by the nonsensical decisions of those above him. All the time that Manchester United are run by this regime, we'll only be challenging for fourth and fifth at best. Wolves exploited the Reds weaknesses again and exposed the ham-fisted raison d'etre of the Old Trafford hierarchy in damningly brutal fashion. It's 2019, yet here we are, STILL, with Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones donning the red of United and lining up in defence. The excrement trio. The three Stooges. The chuckle brothers. The same players making the same mistakes week after week, season in season out. How these three players, along with one or two others, are still playing at Premier League level -  never mind for our club - is baffling and simply beggars belief. Jones and Smalling have never been up to standard, and Young was a half-decent squad player as a winger upon signing in 2011. But modern football waits for no man and Young simply cannot keep starting as United's regular right-back. He is a terrible footballer and should have been jettisoned as soon as he made the transition from winger to defender.

 Yet all three have recently penned inexplicable new deals whilst United's pawnbrokers are happy to let Ander Herrera, David de Gea, Juan Mata and possibly Paul Pogba leave for nothing. Giving not-good-enough players ludicrously lucrative deals but running down the sands of time for the sake of a few extra pennies on those who should be indispensable. Such hubris.

 Herrera is one of the few genuine leaders in the dressing room, a bundle of energy, passion and fire. He may not be worth the 200k-a-week he's demanding but Alexis Sanchez is to blame for that. To let him go on a free is criminal. Instead of just coughing up and paying the extra few hundred, United will now spend the whole summer treading water in search of a replacement instead of failing to jettison players that have been stealing a living at this club for far too long. There's more dead wood in the United dressing room than at the original viagra trials. As for De Gea and Pogba, there is no doubt that current uncertainty is affecting both form and morale. De Gea's head has not seemed right for several weeks now and the keeper was at fault for both of Wolves goal amid the carnage of the Molineux deja vu.

I get that there does indeed have to be an element of business decision-making in what goes on in the corridors of power, but we are, first and foremost, a football club. The clue is in our very name.

Solskjaer is a good man, he has done well, and he could yet prove to be a genius with a full season under his belt and with a transfer window to invest in but only the future can tell us that and the future wasn't under any threat. But given the chain of events in the current corridors of power, can we really be confident that Ole will be handed the tools to undergo the financial overhaul that he so desperately needs and deserves?
 But, in all their wisdom, the United board put their eggs in a basket that they are yet to feel the depth of yet, and they only did it to please the fans - who will turn anyway if results don't. It already feels like Ole is fighting a losing battle with his board.

Match report: Wolves 2-1 Man Utd

United suffered a second self-inflicted fate at Molineux in the space of a fortnight after Chris Smalling's comedic own goal sent the ten man Reds to a third loss in four.

The result damaged United's hopes of a top four finish, despite a blistering start in which Scott McTominay's first senior goal had looked to send the Reds on their way.
But FA Cup semi finalists Wolves hit back through Diogo Jota, who capitalised on Fred's mistake and David de Gea's failure to react. After captain Ashley Young had been sent off, De Gea got stuck in treacle and Phil Jones headed against Smalling whom inadvertently turned the ball his own stranded keeper.


The defeat was the first under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer since he was given the United manager's job on a full-time basis and left us fifth in the Premier League.
United are level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham and two points behind Arsenal in third, but have now played a game more than both London clubs.

It was a gift for Wolves who would have been scarcely able to believe their luck having had to weather an early United storm. Jesse Lingard went close inside the opening seconds, and Rui Patricio then saved well from the returning Lingard and Romelu Lukaku should have done better with a header.
McTominay was next to chance his arm, but it was he whom put United ahead on 13 minutes when Lingard found Fred, the Brazilian teed up his colleague and McTominay's 20-yard daisy cutter flashed past Patricio and in.


Much of the pre-match conversation had focused on Wolves potentially having one eye on their  FA Cup semi-final with Watford at the weekend, but the home side were clearly in no mood to roll over.

Unfortunately for the Reds, they responded by showing the attacking form that has won them so many plaudits and equalised thanks to a fine finish from Jota, after he had beaten the offside trap. De Gea had tried to play out to Fred, who squandered possesion. Raul Jimenez seized on the loose ball, poked in his strike partne

The men in gold applied more pressure at the end of the first half and Ruben Neves forced a good save out of David De Gea, with a looping shot from range.

r and Jota did the rest from close range.

 Lukaku went close to restoring United's lead when his angled effort rolled inches wide, and McTominay then had a header saved by the overworked Patricio shortly after the restart. 

Just as some momentum was building, Solskjaer’s ranks were reduced to ten men as a result of Young receiving his second yellow card of the half for fouls on Jota. The 'captain' was sent off by referee Mike Dean, who no doubt relished branding his 100th Premier League red card.

Substitute Jones came on in an attempt to try and shore up the back and he was involved instantly as his unlikely drive from distance fell to Diogo Dalot. Dalot let fly with an ambitious 25-yarder but Patricio was untroubled and watched it over the bar. 

Wolves took the lead after 78 minutes in fortuitous circumstances, with Joao Moutinho's cross causing a goalmouth scramble that resulted in Smalling inadvertently knocking the ball into his own net. 

Nuno Espirito Santo's side almost scored again late on through substitute Ivan Cavaleiro, whose powerful shot bounced off the crossbar in the last meaningful piece of action. 

Overall team performance: 6/10

United Faithful Man of the Match: Scott McTominay

Match preview: Wolves v Man Utd

Sixteen days since Wolves dealt United an FA Cup KO, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side return to Molineux in the Premier League with seven cup finals to play in the race for the Champions League.

The fight for third and fourth looks set to go down to the very wire, with only a solitary point separating the joint-third Reds from Chelsea, in sixth. You can throw a blanket over us and the three capital clubs in what could be the best finish to a season the division has witnessed for many a year.

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Wolves are looking to hold off Everton, Watford and resurgent Leicester in the battle to become the league’s “best of the rest”. They face the Hornets at Wembley in the semi-final at the weekend and so that game may take preference over what happens here. It wouldn’t be a complete surprise if they upset the apple cart again under Nuno Espirito Santo.

This will be another difficult test of United’s credentials at a ground that has not been a happy hunting ground for our top six rivals. Wolves showed both steel and style in the Cup game, and the Reds have looked worryingly leggy in recent weeks

 It would be the first time since 1979-80 that Wolves have beaten United twice in the same season should they do so. Having previously won a club record nine successive games on the road in league and cup, United have come unstuck losing our last two away from home to this Wolves team and Unai Emery’s Arsenal.
Wolves will be delighted to have Ryan Bennett back available after the defender missed two games due to suspension. Raul Jimenez and Matt Doherty are both expected to start, having featured on the bench at the weekend, but other regulars may be rested ahead of their FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.
Also, there’s a boost in team news for Solskjaer. Anthony Martial suffered a knock against Watford last Saturday but should be fine, while Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof will return.
The only definite absentees for United at this point are Alexis Sanchez, Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly and Matteo Darmian.
Solskjaer called for a vast improvement on that 2-1 Cup defeat, and said: "“Last time [in the FA Cup] we didn’t play well enough against them, we didn’t have enough tempo, speed, awareness. It was a different type of game for us, we had the ball for 70% of the time but struggled to do much with it. Sometimes possession doesn’t mean you’re going to create chances and score goals, sometimes you have to look to play in a different way so that’s something we’re considering.”

Form guide: Wolves D L W D W L Man Utd W W W L L W
Match odds: Wolves 11/4 Draw 10/11 Man Utd 4/1
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

Match report: Man Utd 2-1 Watford

Man Utd celebrated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's appointment as permanent manager by seeing off Watford to go fourth in the table.
With Ole announced as the new long term man at the Old Trafford wheel on Thursday, there was an air of optimism upon the Reds return to action, despite back-to-back defeats before the two week international hiatus.

This was a victory of substance rather than style, but the result is all that matters and United got it through goals from fit-again strike pairing Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial either side of half time. The lively, in-form visitors wouldn't lie down, though, and made things nervy late on when Abdoulaye Doucoure scored. If hadn't been for some heroic defending and a succession of missed chances, Javi Gracia's FA Cup semi finalists may have taken the point - or even all three - that their play deserved.

 The Reds were lethargic as Gracia’s impressive footballing side took command with their slick play. While Watford found their rhythm immediately with sweeping moves that created untold problems for United, the Reds, on the other hand, just couldn’t string any passes together. Doucourse flashed an early shot wide and talismanic capta
in Troy Deeney was denied by De Gea, who beat away his shot after the striker had wriggled free.
It took until shortly before the half hour mark for United's first chance to come, but we made the most of it when it duly arrived. Luke Shaw's swashbuckling surge upfield and found Rashford with a sublime pass on 28 minutes. The returning striker, fresh from a much needed breather, waited for ex Red Ben Foster to commit himself and then slotted beyond the advancing Hornets keeper.

Martial almost made it 2-0 four minutes further on, but this time Foster did well to deny the Frenchman with his leg.
De Gea saved well from the impressive Roberto Pereyra but the chances kept on coming for the Hertfordshire Hornets after the interval. Daryl Janmaat should have done better but fired wide when well-placed, whilst Will Hughes went close with a 20-yarder.

Solskjaer had seen enough and made a double change with Andreas Pereira and Jesse Lingard on for Ander Herrera and Juan Mata. Ten minutes later, the substitutes linked up to devastating effect as Andreas fed Lingard on the overlap and his cross was met by Martial, who bundled in on the rebound after Foster had saved.

That came in the 72nd minute, but Watford are made of stern stuff and refused to buckle. In the 89th minute, our defence was opened up too easily and Doucoure's effort found its way in.

It meant a frenetic finale which United survived and Solskjaer puffed out his cheeks in relief at the final whistle.

Overall team performance: 5/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Luke Shaw