Ole until the summer... unless...?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer served the death knell for his Tottenham counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo with United's 3-0 win in north London last month.
It proved the final nail in the coffin for the Spurs hierarchy as the limp performance persuaded them to part ways with the Portuguese after only four months in the job. In turn, it paved the way for the arrival of Antonio Conte - the man widely tipped to replace Solskjaer at United - at Spurs. 

In a masterstroke of his own, though, Solskjaer masterminded such a resounding victory over Tottenham he took the threat of Conte off the table by deploying the firebrand Italian's trademark 3-5-2 system.  

Whether you thought Conte was the right fit for the job or not, the best option the club had in bringing in a new manager at this stage is no longer available. It now seems certain we will stick with Solskjaer until the summer as there seems little point in sacking him now with no clear succession plan in place. Failing to qualify for the Champions League, and the financial rewards it brings, seems like the only thing that may actually see the affable Norwegian lose his job. If a thumping at the hands of Liverpool and a meek, insipid surrender at home to City doesn't bring the axe down on a Manchester United manager then you have to wonder what would. United's board have made their bed and now have to lie in it. 

Solskjaer and United remain in pergatory - limbo, a waiting game, simply a case of 'when' rather than 'if'. Nothing will ever be won, no more progress ever made. Solskjaer was the right man at the right time at United to reinstate our ethos and clear the mess left behind by Jose Mourinho. But that time has come to an end. He has taken us as far as he can. There's no shame in that at all. We are simply just marking time. 

All the other prime candidates are in work and the only one who isn't - namely Zinedine Zidane - has ruled himself out of the running for the job and looks set to take a break from the game. 
Erik ten Hag has worked wonders at Ajax and seems to fit United's raison d'etre to a tee but is unlikely to leave the position mid-season. ten Hag turned down an offer from newly mega rich Newcastle to set sail for Tyneside because of his reluctance to jump ship in the middle of a campaign. 

The same too can be said for Brendan Rodgers, with the Leicester manager high on United's shortlist but under contract at the King Power until 2025. Rodgers ticks all the boxes for the Reds but it would require a hefty compensation package to wrest him away from the East Midlands. 

The only scenario now which could force United's hand is if Mauricio Pochettino - still believed to be the apple of their eye - is sacked by PSG before the current campaign is out. Whilst Pochettino wouldn't be my first choice for the job, he's an upgrade on Solskjaer and should be considered if he become available. He's been heavily linked with the Old Trafford hotseat in the past so it stands to reason he would be again. 

United and Pochettino have been like ships passing in the night. Whenever the United job has seemed a possibility, Pochettino has been in situ elsewhere. He has been ready and waiting twice for the Reds to come calling but on both occasions the side have hit their two best patches of form under Ole - his sepia-tinged stint as our carefree, free-wheeling interim in the latter part of 2018-19 and our return from lockdown when United surged into third with some of our best football for many a year. The stars have never quite aligned for Poch to come here.... until now? 

It seems somewhat strange Pochettino has PSG eight points clear at the top of Ligue 1 and in a strong position to qualify in the Champions League but yet is under pressure in the French capital. For a man who enjoys punching upwards and developing unpolished diamonds, PSG - the easiest but yet also somehow the most difficult job in football - has never seemed a good fit. Pochettino has one hand on his first ever league title silverware but even that may not be enough to spare him. Zidane may not be an option right now but the lure of the Parc des Prince in his native France will surely prove too strong to resist - meaning there's an obvious option to replace the Argentine should United come in for him. 

Right now, Solskjaer has earned a stay of execution but seemingly only because there's no one else out there. The United board are prepared to bide their time when it comes to finding his successor. 

Match report: Atalanta 2-2 Man United

 Cristiano Ronaldo's latest act of derring do salvaged a point in Bergamo and kept United on track for Champions League qualification.
Having headed the winner in the Reds climb-off-the-canvas escape act between the sides at Old Trafford, CR7 popped up at the death again as he volleyed in a Mason Greenwood flick-on to put United top of the pile and needing a win in Spain on Matchday Five - against Villarreal - to ensure progress to the last 16.

United were 2-1 down and in third place in the 'as it stands' table and knowing defeat to Unai Emery's side would send us out if things stayed as they were, we were again indebted to Ronaldo who has now scored in every Champions League tie this term. 

There were three changes from the weekend win over Spurs in what turned out to be Nuno Espirito Santo's last game in charge of Tottenham. Eric Bailly was handed only his second start of the season, in lieu of the injured Victor Lindelof, whilst Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford started ahead of Fred and Edinson Cavani.

Our first ever trip to Atalanta started brightly for the Reds as Ronaldo went close early on, Rashford had a shot blocked and Scott McTominay struck a post. But, just as they had in M16, Gianpiero Gasperini's men took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes against the run of play.

Duvan Zapata burst down the left and found Slovenian international Josip Ilicic. David de Gea should probably have done better but proved powerless to stop the ball on its way in and, despite a VAR check for offside, the goal was given.

Juan Musso saved at the feet of Ronaldo and Luke Shaw volleyed over before CR7 went close again, this time with a header which flew over the top.

Atalanta then saw the best chance of the half and, indeed, perhaps the entire match, go begging. Pogba's long ball forward was charged down and dropped invitingly for Zapata, in front of De Gea and onside. But Bailly sprang into action, belying his lack of minutes with a monumental goal saving block to save United from further damage. 

United then suffered a further setback when Raphael Varane - only just back from injury - was forced from the field with a hamstring injury eight minutes before the break. Greenwood came on as the Reds reverted to our familiar 4-2-3-1 shape in search of a leveller. 

On the cusp of half time, that's exactly what we got with Greenwood heavily involved. Having been picked out by Ronaldo, our no.11 in turn found Bruno Fernandes and he backheeled the ball into Ronaldo to sweep home from close range. 

Zapata had a strike deflected wide from distance and the omnipotent Ronaldo saw his effort blocked at the other end before Greenwood hit a post - but he was offside anyway. 

Just when it seemed as though the Reds were starting to wrestle back control, Atalanta led again. Jose Luis Palomino played the ball in behind United's backline, Harry Maguire was caught napping and Zapata ghosted in to slot beyond De Gea. There was an agonising three minute wait as VAR checked, re-checked and checked again, but eventually the goal was given with Zapata adjudged to be onside.

Despite the introduction of Cavani and Nemanja Matic, Atalanta - in trademark Italian style - proved resilient, organised and difficult to get through.
Aaron Wan - Bissaka's angled drive inadvertently struck team-mate Greenwood and bounced to safety before another stunning acrobatic clearance from Bailly kept out Joakim Maehle as he shaped to shoot, with the Atalanta man well placed.

Zapata headed over the bar and De Gea then saved well from the same player and his substitute strike partner, fellow Colombian Luis Muriel. 
With time running out and United on the ropes, up stepped that man Ronaldo - yet again - to crash home a volley and send us top of Group F, one win away from qualification. 

Overall team performance: 5/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Ronaldo will get the plaudits but Eric Bailly was colossal. 

Match report: Tottenham 0-3 Man Utd

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ended his "darkest week" with a hugely important victory over out-of-sorts Tottenham in the capital.

The United manager remains a man on the precipice but is safe - for now at least - after his Reds side ended a four game winless league streak with a simple but effective victory. The result moves United up to fifth and firmly amongst the chasing pack on a day when Manchester City lost and Liverpool were held by Brighton. 

Surprisingly, considering the nature and manner of last weekend's loss to the latter, Solskjaer made only two changes to the XI for our first trip with fans present at Spurs' new ground. Raphael Varane returned to slot into a back three alongside Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire, with Edinson Cavani handed only a second start of the season as he partnered Cristiano Ronaldo in a front two with an average age of 70. Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford, 24 today, were the players to miss out. 

After an impeccably observed minute's silence ahead of Remembrance Day - this being Tottenham's closest home game to the day - Son Heung - min had the first opportunity when he cut inside and fired goalwards from distance. Fred blocked the shot but the resultant corner came to nothing as United cleared with ease.

Eric Dier cleared under pressure from Ronaldo after good work by right wing-back Aaron Wan - Bissaka before another Spurs chance at the other end. Luke Shaw and Maguire were both booked in quick succession, and Son then skied his effort from close range when he perhaps should have done better.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side looked to have made the breakthrough when they had the ball in the net on the half hour mark. Oliver Skipp flicked on a flag-kick and the ball founds it way through to centre-back Cristian Romero. He turned the ball home beyond David de Gea but the Argentine's celebration was cut short by the linesman correctly flagging for offside. 

Hugo Lloris saved superbly from Fred's 25-yarder to deny the Brazilian a rare goal but the hosts failed to heed that warning and United led six minutes shy of the interval.
Luke Shaw's darting run down the left saw Spurs backpedalling as Fernandes collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area outside the box. Spotting his compatriot Ronaldo - who had superbly pulled off the shoulder of his marker - Bruno picked him out with an immaculate cross. Ronaldo met it with an even more immaculate strike, a stunning volley on the angle across Lloris and into the corner.

Son flashed an effort wide shortly after the restart before Ronaldo had a superb strike ruled out for another offside infringement. 

Spurs huffed and puffed but were unable to find a way past United's disciplined, organised and well drilled defence with Varane in particular doing more than most to ensure we kept them at arm's length.

In truth, the Reds rarely looked threatened and put the result beyond any lingering doubt 25 minutes from the end when Fernandes dispossessed Skipp and found Ronaldo. He in turn slid the ball through to the advancing Cavani and he did the rest to lift the ball over Lloris and in for his first goal of the season.

Scott McTominay thwarted Harry Kane as the struggling England captain shaped to shoot, and substitute  Steven Bergwijn then fired wide as Spurs threatened to set up a barnstorming finish. 

But nothing would deny the Reds a much needed clean sheet and late gloss was added to the scoreline as substitutes Nemanja Matic and Rashford combined. The former fed the latter to race through and slot low into the far corner to complete a good day at the office for Solskjaer's United.

Overall team performance: 7/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Raphael Varane. Colossal. 

Brendan Rodgers... the perfect fit for Manchester United?

 At the end of a week which saw him cling to the job by his fingertips Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is almost Manchester United's manager on a game-to-game basis.

The Norwegian seemed almost certain for the sack in the wake of United's worst-ever Premier League week after the humiliating embarrassment of a 5-0 defeat to Liverpool on home turf. Quite how Solskjaer has survived to take charge of today's trip to Tottenham is beyond me. 

It still seems a case of 'when' rather than 'if' Solskjaer will lose his job at Old Trafford but, when it comes to his successor, this time there is no clear and obvious successor. It is this, and this alone, which has spared Ole the chop, at least for now. United can't get in the manager they want at present and it seems likely they are unwilling to trust a rookie, novice caretaker such is the difficulty of these upcoming games. 

The old adage says good players rarely make good managers - in fact the reverse is often true. But Zinedine Zidane has proved to be an exception to that unwritten rule - albeit with a star-studded Real Madrid squad which it would be difficult to fail with. But the Frenchman, mentioned in dispatches for the United job, doesn't speak English and has ruled himself out of the running for the role. The jury was very out on a man whom has never managed outside of his native France and only ever had a team of mega stars at his disposal.

Erik ten Hag seems to fit the bill as a relatively young, up and coming manager but a man with an already burgeoning reputation and record. The Ajax boss is a smart tactician proven at building and sustaining winning teams, he trusts youth and his philosophy mirrors that of his idol, Pep Guardiola. ten Hag worked under the now City boss at Bayern Munich and the United hierarchy are known admirers of the 51-year-old Dutchman - twice a winner of the Dutch league and cup since taking over in 2017. 

But ten Hag has said he won't leave the club mid season, meaning the Reds would have to wait to get him if they wanted to secure his services. His contract with the Amsterdam giants runs until the end of next season meaning there would be a significant compensation package needed.

ten Hag should certainly be considered, but my first choice for the job is a little left-field and perhaps slightly controversial. Enter, Brendan Rodgers - a man who fits United perfectly and ticks virtually every box when it comes to what a Manchester United manager should be.

If we're prepared to ignore his connections with Liverpool - and let's not forget Sir Matt Busby played for them and Manchester City - then I'd 100% take Rodgers at Old Trafford. 

Leicester are superbly coached under the astute tutelage of the Northern Irishman, he's tactically flexible and has beaten Solskjaer's United three times in a row now. An FA Cup winner with the unfashionable Foxes last term, Rodgers was the man to take Liverpool the closest they'd been to the title in 30-odd years until a certain Jurgen Klopp arrived as his successor. Rodgers transformed the men from Merseyside into a side ready to challenge at the top of the league having been a sleeping giant - adrift in the wilderness - for years. Klopp may have taken them on to the final step of the ladder, but Rodgers laid the groundwork for the German to complete the job. 

During his stint north of the border, he led Celtic to a hat-trick of trophies in 2016-17 (with an unbeaten season thrown in for good measure) and then repeated the feat in an unprecedented "double treble" 12 months later. 

Rodgers has built Leicester into an exciting, all-action blend of youth and experience with the emerging young talents of Harvey Barnes, Luke Thomas, James Justin and Kiernan Dewsbury - Hall, to name but four, all having become first team regulars during his time in charge at the King Power. Another box ticked.

Detractors will, perhaps with a degree of justification, point to the fact Rodgers and his Foxes side have missed out on the top four twice in successive seasons despite holding a seemingly unassailable advantage on both occasions. 14 points ahead of the Reds in January 2020, Leicester - depleted by injuries and hindered by post-lockdown lack of momentum - blinked with the finish line in sight. United reeled in and eventually overhauled them with a 2-0 win at the King Power on the final day of the campaign sending us into the Champions League at the expense of the faltering Foxes. 
Leicester had occupied a top four position all season but were denied at the last - and history repeated itself in 2020-21. Three defeats in their final four games again saw the Foxes - possibly distracted by the lure of FA Cup glory - drop from third into the Europa League. 

Despite all this, his success, record in promoting youth, tactical nous and ethos of attractive football puts him at the top of any list when it comes to picking Solskjaer's successor. 

 Rodgers is under contract at the King Power until 2025, so United would need to buy him out and, again, would probably need to wait until the summer if we wanted to bring in the man from Carnlough. 

You'd have been laughed out of town if, a few years ago, you'd suggested Brendan Rodgers would make a potential Manchester United manager. But we could certainly do a lot worse, and I'd much rather him than Antonio Conte. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer... the man who made me dream

 It now seems only a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' the curtain comes down on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's final act at Manchester United.

Once the final whistle put Solskjaer's United out of their own self inflicted misery on one of the darkest days in our club's history, this has sadly seemed inevitable. It was not so much the defeat itself but the feeble nature of it. No Manchester United manager can survive a humbling of that scale and nature to our biggest rivals, never mind on home turf. I've wanted him to get time to turn it around but this was the final nail in the proverbial coffin - Ole is never going to be the man to get us to where we need to be. Surely even the notoriously uninterested Glazers cannot ignore the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  

 Discontent and doubts over Ole's suitability, or otherwise, for one of the biggest and most difficult jobs in football had been bubbling for some time, in truth since he got the job permanently in 2019 but even more so since the final against Villarreal. The Liverpool pummeling has proved the final nail in the coffin. There's no doubt Solskjaer is popular and well liked among his players but sentiment, love and goodwill only gets you so far. 

I'm gutted and broken its come to this. Never have I wanted anything so badly than to see the affable Norwegian - the man who gave me the best night of my football supporting life - succeed at the club where we still chant his name. Returning to the club where he's hero worshipped to bring back the glory days as manager - it was our shut eye fantasy which ultimately has failed to come to fruition.  He deserves so much better than to have this day - a black day for Manchester United - as his ultimate epitaph. But in many ways it has come to symbolise Solskjaer's tenure at Old Trafford. 

Solskjaer arrived at Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho's successor with United at their lowest ebb of the Premier League era - a club broken, a group of players shattered and on their knees and a fanbase feeling more disconnected to our club than ever before. He released the handbrake, threw off the shackles, raised spirits, lifted the gloom and brought back the feel good factor. If these indeed are Ole's final hours at the wheel, then I will forever be grateful to him. He's a legend, one of us, an indelible part of our history and no one can ever deny him of that. I will always have nothing but respect and admiration for a man who has never done anything but his best for this club. It might not work out but that certainly doesn't mean he hasn't taken us forward or improved us. But every story has an ending. 

Ole's halcyon days in the hotseat seem a lifetime ago - those three magic months when his tricky Reds channeled the spirit of Sir Alex Ferguson's finest vintage for 14 wins in 19 games under the temporary tutelage of the man from Molde. Playing on the front foot and pressing teams into submission in a swashbuckling 4-3-3, it is perhaps the most baffling footnote of all this: why have Ole and his backroom boys never set the team up like this since? 

Since his permanent appointment, off the back of that stunning run of form, Ole's vision was clear: to rebuild the side and sprinkle it with a touch of stardust and the "Man Utd DNA" whilst keeping us competitive at the sharp end of competition. He has more than fulfilled that remit and will leave behind our finest side since 2009 for his successor. 

As with any managerial tenure, there have been some glorious highs and some equally desperate lows under Ole. Against all the odds, Solskjaer's United rose from mid-table mediocrity to the summit of the Premier League. For a few short, wonderful weeks in the January of 2021, I and millions of others dared to dream. Dared to dream he would go where Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho couldn't - to the title. Solskjaer fuelled genuine belief our wait for the league trophy was coming to an end as the hashtag #21iscoming was born on social media. Alas as we know it didn't but it sure was fun while it lasted. For the first time since the retirement of our greatest ever in 2013, I believed United were returning to the top. Maybe I got swept up on the romantic notion of Ole as the man to bring back the halycon days of yesteryear, but could you really blame me for doing so? 

 The Europa League final loss to Villarreal in Solskjaer's first - and possibly last - final at the club saw the trophy slip through our fingers. Ultimately, his stubborn loyalty to certain players - namely Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Fred, has cost him dear. So too his consistent inability to get us over the line when it comes to the crunch in important knockout cup games. 

Then came the record-smashing away league run with United going an entire league campaign unbeaten on the road last term, a run extending to 29 games before Leicester ended the streak last Saturday. Admittedly it came with a Covid-era caveat of behind closed doors football, but the record books will still show United's place in Premier League history. Any achievement of that size and scale deserves a doffing of the proverbial cap.

So what next? It does indeed seem the writing is on the wall for Solskjaer. History and indeed the very name Manchester United suggests United managers don't survive carnage of this nature. But who else is there? I don't want Antonio Conte anywhere near my club - he's argumentative, confrontational, never stays anywhere for long, overloads his sides with defensive players and pisses everyone off. Sound familiar? I'd rather have my dog in charge. Zinedine Zidane is out of work but he doesn't scream a United boss and has only ever managed a Real Madrid side with world class stars in every position. Erik ten Hag won't leave Ajax in the middle of the season so could it be a lack of viable alternatives saves Solskjaer? 

Whatever happens, it seems Ole is closer to the sack than at any other time during his three years in charge but when he does go, he will do so with my eternal gratitude. He gave us our club back. 

The beginning of the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer?

Sitting stony faced and silent in the dugout as Liverpool put his sorry United side to the sword, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must have felt about 3ft tall.
You had to feel for him, powerless to prevent a thumping at the hands of our biggest and most hated rivals on our own turf, his sullen features the epitome of a man who must surely now know the end is nigh. 

Manchester United have had bad days before - even under Sir Alex Ferguson, when we were an all-conquering juggernaut at the height of our powers. The 4-0 at Anfield in the late 80s, the 4-1 defeat at home to the same opposition in 2008-09 (we still won the league that year, mind) and the 1-6 mauling at the hands of Manchester City three seasons on. 

But what I saw on Sunday cannot adequately be put into words - certainly not words suitable for these pages, anyway. It’s a dark day for everyone associated with Manchester United. Perhaps our darkest of the Premier League era. Not just beaten by the team we hate the most but battered - embarrassed on our own turf by a Liverpool side which never even really got out of third gear. In my 24 years following this club - our club - I’ve never felt like this before. For the first time in my life, Manchester United have broken me. 

It will take a miracle for Solskjaer to survive this. Jose Mourinho was sacked after defeat to Liverpool - a performance I thought would be the worst I'd ever have to witness against the Scousers. 

I can accept losing: I don’t like it, of course I don’t, who does, but sometimes even if you play well and lose - perhaps through a bad piece of refereeing, a stroke of misfortune or a moment of magic from an opponent - you can accept it isn’t always going to be your day. 

But there’s a way to lose and whatever that ‘way’ is, the events of the weekend certainly were not it. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has our best squad in years at his disposal - indeed better, for my money, than Sir Alex Ferguson’s final two title winning sides in terms of player-for-player pound-for-pound quality. But right now he looks completely clueless when it comes to setting it up, organising it and coaching it to manage even the basics. 

This was supposed to be the year when Solskjaer’s talented, expensively assembled squad came to the title party. If not win it, then push the likes of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool very close. Instead, they were streets ahead in every department, United embarrassed and humiliated by the first truly elite opponents we have faced this season. Under Mourinho, the players gave up and - to coin common parlance - he “lost the dressing room.” It somehow seems to make everything worse when you consider these players love Ole, they would run through brick walls for him, but yet we’re still seeing this level of performance. 

I actually thought we looked decent going forward - Bruno Fernandes skied an early sighter and Alisson made a couple of good saves from Cristiano Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood but Liverpool looked like scoring every time they went forward. United were all over the place defensively, it was a shambles - there was no shape, no organisation, no cohesion and the same individual and collective mistakes we have seen on a weekly basis. 

I will always be grateful for the work Solskjaer has done in his time at United. He has done a simply remarkable job in difficult circumstances, often with one hand seemingly tied behind his back. He inherited a mess, rotten to its very core, and a group of players on their knees at breaking point. He made us competitive again - for a while at least, we dared to dream. Solskjaer took us into the Champions League in successive seasons, finishing third and then second: that might not sound much, but its more than any of his three predecessors managed. He will leave the club in a much better, stronger position for his successor and he will leave with my utmost respect and adoration. He will have my eternal gratitude and thanks for giving us our club back and making us ‘United’ again.

But football is ultimately a results business and you can only survive on goodwill for so long. There’s no doubt Solskjaer has done a superb job of rebuilding a shattered club but we’re beyond that now. This is a side ready to win. I truly hoped Ole would be the man to drive us on that journey, but it’s clear now he’s not going to be. It’s got to the point now where to prolong this agony would be to begin undoing the strides we have made under Ole. If it gets any worse, the man is in danger of tarnishing his legacy ala Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.  We all wanted him to succeed and bring back the glory days to our club but it hasn't quite worked out that way. Take Chelsea as the example.. the west London club found themselves in an almost identical position with a club legend in charge of a brilliant group of players. They knew it was never going to work, made the change and got in a much better manager - now look at them. Thomas Tuchel took them to Champions League glory only four months into his Stamford Bridge tenure and, not even a year after his arrival, they are the early Premier League pacesetters. 

Ole’s not the man to take us where we need to be, in a position to be challenging for the biggest honours in the game. Solskjaer gave me and I’m sure countless others the greatest night of my football-supporting life with a flick of that trusty right boot 22 years ago, but modern football and sentiment waits for no man. Some of United’s best post Sir Alex days have come under his tutelage, but no Manchester United manager can or should be expected to survive a pumping at the hands of Liverpool. I’m afraid this feels like the end. There is simply no way back. Not every story has a good ending. 

Match report: Man Utd 0-5 Liverpool

Mo Salah struck a hat-trick as five star Liverpool put United to the sword and piled further pressure on beleaguered boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.  

In front of an Old Trafford crowd stunned into silence, ten years and a day since the 1-6 thumping at the hands of Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp's unbeaten Liverpool emphasised the gaping chasm between the two sides and their managers.
The visitors - in the 208th meeting between the Reds of Manchester and Merseyside - raced into a four-goal interval lead and added a fifth as Salah completed his hat-trick before substitute Paul Pogba was sent off for a reckless lunge on Naby Keita.

Solskjaer stuck with the side he sent out in Wednesday's dramatic win over Atalanta with Scott McTominay and Fred anchoring the midfield, Mason Greenwood on the right and Marcus Rashford on the left. Pogba and Jadon Sancho were named on the bench. 

United started well and saw the game's first opening come our way inside the opening three minutes when McTominay worked the ball to Rashford and he in turn found the onrushing Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese playmaker found himself one on one with Alisson but could only lift the ball over the bar from close range.

Seconds later and Klopp's Liverpool were ahead in the fifth minute when tormentor-in-chief Salah sliced United open to find Keita and he slotted his finish beyond David de Gea.

Eight minutes later it was 0-2 with a carbon copy of Atalanta's opener in midweek as Keita nicked the ball after England pair Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire got themselves in a tangle. He fed the overlapping Trent Alexander - Arnold to pick out the onrushing Diogo Jota - picked ahead of Sadio Mane - and the Portuguese striker steered the ball in at the back post.

De Gea denied Roberto Firmino and Alisson saved superbly from Greenwood at the other end, before Luke Shaw fired wide, Ronaldo went close and Rashford had a volley pawed away. To their credit, United's 19-minute spell brought about improvement and fuelled belief of another epic comeback like we saw in midweek but, with respect to Atalanta, they aren't Liverpool.

On the contrary in fact. United may have looked decent going forward but were wide open and all at sea at the back. Eight minutes before the break, the rampant visitors already put the result beyond doubt through that man Salah. 

A fluid passing move saw Salah's blocked effort fall to Keita on the rebound and he in turn worked the ball back to the Egyptian to thump the ball high beyond De Gea.

Ronaldo and Fred were both yellow carded - with CR7 perhaps a little fortunate to stay on the field after he appeared to flick a leg at Keita in a coming together.
Salah added a fourth before the interval - his 14th of the season - when Jota found him in acres of space to sweep the ball beyond the helpless and stranded De Gea.

The half-time whistle was met by a chorus of boos greater in both number and volume from the smattering of discontent which greeted Wednesday's interval, after an insipid, chaotic and disorganised showing.

Pogba was introduced for Greenwood but quite what he was expected or supposed to do in such circumstances we will never know. 
It was he whom made an immediate impact but not in the way hoped for when Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson dispossessed the Frenchman and curled the ball into the path of Salah to nudge beyond De Gea for his treble.

Ronaldo thought he had pulled a goal back but United's day was epitomised when VAR ruled the United man to be offside and his effort was chalked off. Things then went from bad to worse when substitute Pogba was sent off on the hour mark for a reckless, late foul on Keita. 

The Liverpool man was taken off on a stretcher as Diogo Dalot and Edinson Cavani came on for the last hour with the Reds reverting to a back five in an attempt to limit the damage.

The Uruguayan hit the bar from a McTominay flick on but not even a consolation goal was forthcoming on one of Manchester United's darkest days.

Overall team performance: 0/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Mason Greenwood. One of only two players - the other being De Gea - to emerge with any modicum of credit.