Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faced with the mother of all rebuilding jobs

Perhaps missing out on the Champions League is a blessing in disguise for Manchester United. Not only to save us from future embarrasment at the hands of Europe's true elite, but to jolt the board - the poisonous, cancerous. leeching, penny pinching parasites who are supposedly running this club - into action. If moonlighting in the Europa League for the third time in five seasons doesn't make them act, then simply nothing ever will. Sack the board. I'm sick of saying it now. This is their mess, and theirs alone.

Maybe now, the elusive Glazers and the headless chicken Ed W******d will wake up, smell the coffee and set about restructuring this great club of ours. By scraping into the top four at the last, it would have merely papered over the multitude of cracks in the crumbling Old Trafford facade. That is the zenith of this regime's ambition and would have persuaded the merry band of men that all is rosy in the United garden despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. As long as we've got the Champions League to keep sponsors happy, revenue ticking over and the club coffers continuing to swell, they're happy.


It feels like we've said this every year for the last I don't know how long, but a crucial summer awaits for Manchester United. Faced with the mother of all monumental rebuilding jobs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the right man for us, but he needs time, money and help. If he doesn't, then he faces the prospect of the same fate that befell his illustrious predecessors - becoming just another victim of United's rancid and rotten regime.
Faced with the cold reality of Thursday night football in faraway Baku, there is nowhere else to turn. No longer is this side's inadequacies masked by the lure of PSG, Juve and Barcelona et al under the Old Trafford lights. There has to be a transfer kitty available in the summer. But the problem is, I don't trust the board to get rid of the deadwood and bring in good enough replacements. This is the same board that replaced Cristiano Ronaldo with Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia. The same board that thought we didn't need Toby Alderweireld or Harry Maguire because Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were good enough. They just won't spend the money needed, the likes of Jones, Smalling, Ashley Young, Valencia, Marcos Rojo, Alexis Sanchez and co will remain clogging up the wage bill and the same vicious circle will begin all over again. Deja vu. I don't want to compare United to our two most hated rivals City and Liverpool but can't help doing so. Not only are both cutting a swathe through the league, but the way they are run are poles apart. Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola went to their respective boards with transfer requests to make them competitive and lo and behold, they got what was needed with minimal fuss in a matter of weeks. If only - our board could learn a thing or two.

United - owned and exploited by the Glazer family and run by Woodward - are floundering in every department. Yet if we needed a model for how to do things much better in their challenge - albeit fraught - of restoring the equilibrium - they don't have to look far. United need a right-back, a right winger, two centre mids, a centre back, a left winger, a keeper and a striker. That's before we even get to the notion of a technical director and someone on the board who knows what they're doing from a football perspective. That should be the first priority and then, at least, we can avoid the kind of soporific summer that marked the beginning of the end for Jose Mourinho. Woodward refused to sanction signing another centre-half and instead brought in a 35-year-old Stoke City reject, a kid and a not good enough, overpriced Brazilian.

Solskjaer cannot have the same problems as he's faced with a task akin to fighting a forest fire with a water pistol.

Match report: Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea

Another howler from David de Gea gifted Chelsea a fortuitous equaliser and all but ended United's hopes of Champions League qualification. With United 1-0 up and on course for a priceless victory against direct top four rivals in a must win game, De Gea spilled Antonio Rudiger's speculative shot from distance and allowed Marcos Alonso to sweep home the leveller.

United went into the game three points behind Maurizio Sarri's west London side in a top four tussle that no one has taken charge of or, indeed, even seems to want. Things remained that way after a draw that was, in truth, probably a fair result. United have two games left against relegated Huddersfield and surely-gone Cardiff.

 With Tottenham losing at home to West Ham on Saturday and Arsenal's heavy loss at Leicester earlier on Sunday, this result means none of the teams placed between third and sixth won over the weekend.
Five points separate Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United with 180 minutes of the Premier League season remaining.

 Rudiger let fly from 30 yards with Chelsea's first shot on target two minutes before the interval.
It looked a routine save for a player of De Gea's ability and quality, but the ball spilled from his grasp and Alonso reacted quickly to tuck home his first Premier League goal since 18 August. It was the latest in a series of high profile blunders in recent weeks.
He was culpable for at least one of Manchester City's two goals in the derby loss at Old Trafford, having been at fault for Lionel Messi's second in the defeat at the Nou Camp in the Champions League on 16 April. That's before you throw in him getting stuck in the mud for Wolves winner in the league and Granit Xhaka's effort at the Emirates which should have been a straightforward stop.

It was a costly error by the desperate Spaniard, whose form has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, although De Gea did come to his side's rescue deep in stoppage time to deny Gonzalo Higuain a dramatic winner.
In a feisty, uncompromising tie, Rudiger was forced off through injury before Marcus Rashford and the luckless Eric Bailly - on his first start for six week - followed suit.
Continuing the recent trend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side came flying out of the traps and started well. Romelu Lukaku had an early effort saved by Kepa, before the Belgian was involved in United's eleventh-minute opener. His flick over the top found the excellent Luke Shaw, who cut the ball back for the onrushing Juan Mata to score against his old side.
Bailly flashed a header wide and Kepa saved a Marcus Rashford set-piece, before Alonso's gift restored parity at the break.

Chances were at a premium after the break, although N'golo Kante flashed a shot wide and substitute Marcos Rojo had a header cleared off the line by fellow replacement Pedro.
Rojo was then fortunate to escape censure when he clattered into Gonzalo Higuain and then scythed down Willian with a two footed lunge.

Overall team performance: 6/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Luke Shaw. My Player of the Season, superb again

Manchester United simply do not deserve Champions League football

Here we go again. Emmerdale Cup. Thursday nights. Macedonia, Belarus, Azerbaijan. All hail the pitfalls of the Europa League. For that's surely now where, for the third time in six seasons, Manchester United are going to end up. True, we're not completely out of the running for a top four finish with three games left against Chelsea, Huddersfield and Cardiff, but that's mainly because the sides around us are just as bad as we are. Whoever is least s**t will get that fourth spot.

If we do, by some miracle, limp to fourth place, we could still miss out if should Arsenal or Chelsea win this year's Europa League which looks very likely. It is no more than we deserve. We have - barring three months from mid-December to early March, been absolutely woeful this season. We've spent only two weeks of the season in the top four after wins over Fulham and Southampton in the midst of our sensational, record breaking 15 match unbeaten run.

Jose Mourinho was merely a smokescreen masking the plethora of problems from top to bottom at United. Problems that transcend what goes on on the field and run far deeper than the manager. Let's look at the stats. We've conceded 50 goals (FIFTY!), a club record high in a single season. We've lost seven of our last nine and have gone over ten hours without a goal in open play. Paul Pogba's pair of penalties against West Ham aside, Scott McTominay's goal in the 13th minute at Wolves on April 2 was the last time we found the net.
 The players don't look bothered, the whole place is dilapidated, ageing and outdated and the playing side of the club needs major renovation, the mother of all overhauls and open heart surgery. Only Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw have been consistently anywhere near good enough, and the likes of Fred and Paul Pogba have simply not been good enough for two expensive foreign imports. Pogba's inclusion in the PFA Team of the Year is controversial. Our coaching structure and squad are c**p, the stadium is leaking, results are at a 57 year low and the club is in freefall. The only ones that seem to care are us, the long suffering United fans.

Having won the Europa League during Jose Mourinho's first season in charge - an achievement that turned out to be as good as things got under him - I never wanted to be back in it. Once you've won it once, you're done with it. It's not like the Champions League where its magic, prestige and atmospheric goldfish bowl is unrivalled. You can't get enough of it. But in the Europa League, you stack up the air miles, play at ridiculous times on a Thursday against sides you've never even heard of. Oh joy.
You can also forget about any semblance of a title challenge next term - not that we're anywhere near close to competing for it, never mind winning. The schedule forced upon us will put paid to that. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should use the competition as a springboard for the next generation of talent fresh off the Carrington conveyor belt. Tahith Chong, Mason Greenwood, Angel Gomes and James Garner to name but four. Solskjaer has, himself, already achieved a minor miracle to even get us into top four contention, but it seems like results and performances fell off a cliff as soon as there was a chance we might make it. It's hard to argue that anything other than the industrial backwaters of Europe's second tier competition being our level at this moment in time.

Match report: Man Utd 0-2 Man City

Manchester City took the derby honours and inflicted an important blow in their pursuit of back-to-back titles with victory at Old Trafford.
Pep Guardiola's side knew anything but a win would leave Liverpool at the top of the table and in charge of their own destiny with only three games left.
United matched their illustrious visitors in the first half and could even have counted themselves not to be ahead at half time, but City moved slickly through the gears after the interval with goals from Bernardo Silva and substitute Leroy Sane.

 Silva's low drive went inside United keeper David de Gea's near post after 54 minutes and the keeper was at fault again when Sane's drive went straight through him and in.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had demanded a response after the abhorrent capitulation at Goodison Park and he did, at least, get a much improved performance. 

There was a bite and confidence missing at Goodison as we flew into the opening exchanges with the Reds' intensity forcing the Blues into errors and the momentum also had City making unforced mistakes as well.

Vincent Kompany and Kyle Walker both looked unhinged and the City captain was given a 10th minute yellow card by referee Andre Marriner for a cynical body-check on Marcus Rashford as the striker threatened to speed past the Belgian defender.
Paul Pogba had the first telling effort on goal of a frantic opening as he sent a dipping shot just in front of City keeper Ederson but the keeper comfortably held the effort.
A deflected Raheem Sterling effort almost wrong footed De Gea, Fred flashed a shot narrowly over the bar at the other end and Jesse Lingard volleyed wide in a flurry of first half openings.

De Gea pushed out Silva's 20 yarder before Ederson bravely denied the impressive Marcus Rashford when one on one with the advancing striker.

City began to douse United’s fire as they got into their possession game and, as they continued with their control, they carved out their best chance of the match.

Quick passing in the home penalty area presented Sterling a chance to dance his way into some space and his low shot from close range was saved by De Gea as the Blues threatened to make a breakthrough under the noses of the Stretford End.

Guardiola's men upped the ante in search of a crucial win and, despite losing key enforcer Fernandinho to injury, made the breakthrough on 54 minutes. 

An Ilkay Gundogan pass got Bernardo Silva on the ball on the right flank and he took on Luke Shaw, cut inside and fired low into the net under De Gea at his near post. The Reds responded immediately and should have restored parity but Lingard completely miskicked five yards out with the goal gaping after Rashford had picked him out. 

Pogba had a free-kick chance square on goal from 20 yards out but could only batter his set-piece into City’s stoic wall.

City, though, were dangerously rising through the gears and United could ill afford errors but Fred gave away the ball to Kompany, the defender quickly set Sterling free and he raced at pace into the Reds' half and fed substitute Sane to thump in a finish that beat De Gea for City’s second after 66 minutes.

There was to be no comeback as Old Trafford emptied quickly with United left to lick wounds again after a better showing but another defeat. On the plus side, at least this means that Liverpool now look likely to miss out on the title.

Overall team performance: 5/10

United Faithful Man of the Match: Marcus Rashford 

Manchester derby preview: Man Utd vs Man City

The last thing Manchester United could do with right now is a meeting with Pep Guardiola’s title-chasing Manchester City. The men from across the road arrive at Old Trafford having won 14 of their last 15 in the league but still smarting from the death of their unprecedented quadruple. With Chelsea to come on Sunday in another heavyweight meeting, United need to quickly forget the traumatic events of the past week which has seen an unwelcome throwback to the nadir of Jose Mourinho's ill-fated tenure.

Form and fitness has dropped off the cliff since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got the permanent job, leaving the United manager with an uphill battle to save a season that he had done so well to turn around. In stark contrast, City are in the finest of fettles despite the lingering heartache of their dramatic European exit. Guardiola's sky blue juggernaut have won ten league games in a row and make the four mile journey to Old Trafford locked toe to toe with Liverpool in the best title race the Premier League has seen for many a year. With the Carabao Cup already in the bag and an FA Cup final against Watford in which they will start as strong favourites, the domestic treble is very much still on. The two sides meet in a clash that looks decisive, but unfortunately United are only the envious bystanders watching on once more. With Ole at the wheel, can the Reds push Pep's juggernaut off the road and reignite our own ambitions with only three games to go? Here's the odd thing. I shouldn't be, it defies logic, the form book and my own senses, but I'm actually strangely confident. Having lost six in eight, United always perform when there's no pressure and put a performance in when you least expect one.

The 178th cross-town clash comes amid a benign backdrop because of that title picture. United need the points to get a fast faltering season back on track, but - in doing so - it would effectively hand the title to a certain team 30-odd miles down the road. That is itself is a prospect no one wants to ever dare consider, but the fact that we would have helped them do it makes the whole thing tinged with a bittersweet irony.
United will make changes in defence after Phil Jones was forced off through injury in the loss at Everton.
Paul Pogba produced a critic-silencing performance as United claimed a huge victory over their neighbours last April.

He and the rest of the United squad need to repeat that trick to not only keep their hopes of a top four finish alive, but to ease some of the considerable strain that has fallen under Solskjaer since he was appointed permanent manager.
But such have been the dismal nature of their performances in the last few weeks, it is difficult to envisage any sort of turnaround before Solskjaer has the chance to wield the axe this summer.
 Solskjaer’s has been glowing in his praise of 17-year-old Mason Greenwood again, a player he insists will be given the opportunity to shine while he is in charge.
Anthony Martial could be among the clutch of players at risk of losing their place after his anonymous performance against Everton – just days after his manager name-checked him among the group who simply must offer more. Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly remained sidelined but Alexis Sanchez is in line to feature.
 Ander Herrera is expected to be available after four weeks out with a thigh injury, while Luke Shaw returns from a three-game suspension.
 Kevin de Bruyne will miss the derby after sustaining a muscular problem last weekend,  the latest setback in an injury ravaged season for Man City's midfield maestro. Keeper Claudio Bravo is the only other absentee through injury.

Solskjaer said: " I would like to say that I am what this club needs to move forward but it is not down to me to say that. Of course, I am confident in my team and myself. I am ready to take this challenge on. I know it is a big challenge. That is why I came. I don't like losing but it is a great challenge.
"But when you have bad results you have to be confident enough to say this is the way we are going to do it. We have to be brave and stick to what we believe in."

Form guide: Man Utd W L L W L L Man City W W W W W W 
Match odds: Man Utd 6/1 Draw 4/1 Man City 11/4
Referee: Andre Marriner

Predicted United line-up: De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw; McTominay, Matic, Pogba; Rashford, Lukaku, Sanchez.

There's no game quite like the Manchester derby

Ask any Manchester United fan and we’ll tell you that Liverpool is always the one we want to win the most. It’s the fixture you look for first when they come out in June. I’m sure they would say the same. But there’s nothing quite like a local cross-city derby to stir the senses, get juices flowing and conjure up emotions like no other game can.

Merseyside may be a tribal feud of mutual hatred and loathing, and a rivalry that transcends far beyond football, but the derby is about bragging rights, local pride and the chance to claim the city as your own. If anyone ever asks who you despise more, just remember this:  I hate Man City because I’m a Man Utd fan, I hate Liverpool because I’m a normal human being.

 As a former United legend once said, it’s like choosing which of two men gets to nick your missus. The two sides meet on Wednesday with the title up for grabs in a tie that looks decisive. Unfortunately, United are only the superfluous third wheel. The 178th all-Manchester meeting is one tinged with bittersweet irony.

By getting points from City, we’ll reignite our own ambitions, denting theirs in the process but go a long way to handing Liverpool a first Premier League title. An unpalatable Catch 22 situation that no one ever really wants. Welcome to life as a United fan in 2019.

The derby used to be irrelevant, in part due to City’s years in the industrial backwaters of the lower leagues and United’s all-conquering domestic dominance. City were merely a stepping stone, a footnote, an anomaly, an afterthought. Like the annoying younger brother who used to walk in your shadow at the playground because he had no one else to look up to. He never did anything to hurt or disrupt you, but he was always there clinging to your trouser leg, hoping to be thrown a few scraps of attention and affection every now and then. The Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 marked a watershed moment in the battle of power. United retained the initial early honours, but a new force was coming and it was here to stay.

Since that Aguero moment (my therapist says I’m not allowed to talk about it), our stranglehold has been on the wane. City have claimed three titles to our one and have a business model, a manager, a team and a boardroom structure we can only dream of. Times indeed, they are a changing. The noisy neighbours have become the biggest and best sports car money can buy, whilst United have been reduced to that ring rusty older model that used to be the envy of the world, but is now unreliable and past its best. But, like that trusty old Subaru, United can still occasionally rediscover their old magic when the two go head-to-head.

I suppose, in a strange way, we should be grateful. We need them as much as they need us. It’s good for the city and, after all, the two clubs are linked by triumph just as much as tragedy more than you might think. Matt Busby played more than 200 games for City before transforming United across a 24-year managerial tenure. One of City’s own, goalkeeper Frank Swift, was killed on a snowy runway at Munich in 1958. As painful as it might be, you’re hard pressed not to doff your proverbial cap in the direction of the Etihad.
Despite the undisputable fact that City now sit in the proverbial driving seat, and without wishing to tempt fate, they have not doubled United in the same league season since the David Moyes debacle in 2013/14. With Ole at the wheel, can United push Pep’s juggernaut off the road and stay on track for the destination marked “Champions League?” Even if the fans of a certain team 30-odd miles away would never let us forget that we helped them win the league…

Five things to watch out for in 178th cross town derby

The last thing Manchester United could do with right now is a meeting with Pep Guardiola’s title-chasing Manchester City. The men from across the road arrive at Old Trafford having won 14 of their last 15 in the league but still smarting from the death of their unprecedented quadruple. United often perform at their best when backs are pushed firmly against walls, so without further ado let us set the scene with what to look for at Old Trafford.

 Benign backdrop to high stakes derby

This promises to be one of the strangest nights Old Trafford has witnessed for years. Usually, the Theatre of Dreams would be rocking to the beat of an atmosphere baying for (sky blue) blood, but these are strange times. Guardiola’s side is neck and neck with Liverpool in the most exciting title tussle for years. By getting our own top four chances back on much-needed track and silencing the noisy neighbours, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side could well hand the league to the unthinkables. Than in itself is unpalatable, but imagine ‘them’ crowing that we helped them do it… Liverpool fans will be roaring us on, whilst there could well be a fair few of a United persuasion happy to take the ‘L’ for the first time ever in a derby if it means stopping the Scousers at all costs. It will be a weird night with no one quite sure who to support.

Problems mounting for United’s rookie boss

Just about everything that could have gone wrong has done in the last few weeks. Old wounds have reopened, form and fitness have fallen off a cliff and the dressing room is reportedly at war again. Since Solskjaer got the permanent job, United have reverted to type and it’s back to the nadir of the Mourinho tenure. In stark contrast, Manchester City are in fine fettle and a picture of serenity. It takes a huge leap of the imagination to see how Solskjaer and his side have the equipment to cut City down to size, but for some reason, I’m feeling oddly confident. If United play as we did at Everton – surely we can’t be any worse – then it will be brutal.

Man Utd’s Shaw-flank redemption

Luke Shaw has been widely tipped to get United’s Player of the Season award and the last three games have illustrated exactly why, even in absentia. Shaw has made the left-back spot his own but as United have lurched from Marcos Rojo and Ashley Young to Diogo Dalot, he has been a massive miss and will return to the fold on Wednesday, tasked with the significant hurdle of keeping tabs on one of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane or Bernardo Silva in Guardiola’s fluid and interchanging front three. Shaw is back after a three-game suspension. Here’s hoping he will give United the injection of energy and pace that has been sorely conspicuous by its absence. It has been wonderful to see this lad enjoy such a superbly stellar season.

A titanic tussle for top four and title

No matter the occasion or setting, the Manchester derby always matters. Liverpool may be the game above all others, but there’s nothing like a local showdown to stir the senses and get juices flowing. Not only that, but the two sides meet in the midst of separate need for bragging rights. City to keep on course for a second successive title, United for a top four spot that no one seems to really want. Arsenal, Chelsea and ourselves are taking it in turns to drop points meaning that somehow, despite six defeats in eight games, we’re still only three points off third spot. The high profile fixtures continue to come thick and fast with Chelsea next after this one.

Can United restore some pride?

There is always an over-reaction when United are beaten, but it was nothing less than justified following the 4-0 Easter crucifixion on Sunday. United were a mess, as bad as we have been, and showed no response at all from the Champions League KO. At the very least, the players have to put a performance in against City. Despite their apparent superiority, City haven’t won both league games in a season against the Reds since 2013-14 but, having taken the honours in the return fixture, they will look to inflict further woe on a United side in turn bidding to avoid drawing a third successive blank. Solskjaer will have learned a lot about his threadbare, inadequate squad in the past few weeks and to be fair to him he has not made excuses or shied away. Ole has told it like it is and you admire his honesty. He has great pride in this job and now it’s time for his players to follow suit. If you can’t even play with pride in a derby that defines the very name, then you have no future at Man United.