Solskjaer far from perfect but has earned Man Utd faith

Man Utd beat Man City so long ago it bears questionable relevance. But a few things stuck out that showed Solskjaer’s spark.

The bigger issue of whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should be Man Utd head coach is too tired a topic to care about. That list of pros and cons remains the same, no matter how often it’s discussed.

More interesting, perhaps, or at least more relevant, is the positive side of a spell which is increasingly encouraging. It’s possible to think that Solskjaer’s fortunate to have a job he is underqualifed for, while also acknowledging that most recently, before the lockdown, results had improved significantly and Man Utd were getting better.

The Manchester derby was probably the height of that run. It was also typical in how it reinforced the entrenched positions taken on Solskjaer. His critics would say it was another result achieved with backfoot, crouch and counter tactics. His apologists would contest the validity of that criticism, pointing out that City were beaten for the third time in a row that day and, as a result, the manager was right to play the same way again. As ever, there’s merit to both positions.

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That game is a long time ago now, which gives it a questionable relevance. There’s no guarantee that the Man Utd side who emerge to play Tottenham will bear any relation – in tone, in application, or in shape – to the one last seen in Premier League action on March 9.

But then, it wasn’t really the performance which remains vivid from that day. More memorable than the result were the notes and sub-plots: the use of Luke Shaw, for instance, and the performance of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Added to which, the quick assimilation of Bruno Fernandes was never more clear than it was against City, and Fred’s continued good form was, at that point, becoming one of the surprises of 2020.

Shaw first; that was really interesting. It wasn’t the first time he’d been used as a third centre-half. He’d played the same role against Chelsea and also against Liverpool, but it was a bold selection. Guardiola’s City have always hurt teams by making incisions into the penalty box. They punish undisciplined defending and, in particular, exploit any gaps occurring in the channel between centre-halves and full-backs.

Knowing that, in a derby game at Old Trafford, Solskjaer still chose to play Shaw inside Brandon Williams, in roles that neither were natural in. It worked – and not for the first time – but the willingness to try something like that and tease an effect from it was encouraging. It shows a problem-solving culture, or at least a willingness to experiment.

It was also brave. The easier decision would have been to play Shaw as the wing-back and Eric Bailly on the left of the back three. That would have been more orthodox and, had it gone wrong, it would definitely have been easier to rationalise to the press afterwards. But Man Utd got their dividend and that little combination helped them to retain an attacking presence within the game. That was presumably the intention and, given the identity of Solskjaer’s predecessor, days like that must make for a refreshing change.

It’s actually also one of the areas in which the ‘one tactic’ theory falls down. The victories that Solskjaer has earned in that type of game have all looked quite similar, that’s fair to claim, but there is still a difference between the type of football they play in those games now, versus what they used to under Jose Mourinho. They operate with the same broad philosophy in such fixtures, but with different ideas within that framework. It’s not the same thing.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka is another success. His performance against City was probably the best of his brief Man Utd career. It was also one of his most balanced. The line on Wan-Bissaka leaving Crystal Palace was that as good as he was defensively, his contribution in the other direction wasn’t anything like what it needed to be for a modern full-back. He was not a Kyle Walker or a Trent Alexander-Arnold.

There remains an imbalance, he’s clearly better in one direction than the other, but it’s not as lopsided as it was. Wan-Bissaka was fantastic against Raheem Sterling at Old Trafford, shutting him out of the game completely. He was also ambitious with the ball at his feet and, statistically, took on more opponents in City’s half than any other Man Utd player.

It’s a trend. By the time of the lockdown, he was becoming increasingly effective in advanced areas, showing a clever range of cuts and chops and skills. Willian is one of the best defensive wingers in the country and, a few weeks earlier at Stamford Bridge, Wan-Bissaka had made a fool of him in creating Anthony Martial’s goal. It helped show the kind of quick evolution that, if it happened at another club where there were fewer headline issues, would probably make for a major storyline.

Add the improvements to Fred and the restoring of his confidence and contribution to this list, too. It’s also fair to praise Solskjaer for Bruno Fernandes’s instant impact, because that’s not easy in the middle of a season, let alone in a side as offensively anaemic as Man Utd, with such pronounced and long-standing midfield problems.

Again, that’s another one of those issues which, it could argued, exists slightly independently of Solskjaer. That’s not an unreasonable position, because it’s an incredible luxury to spend so much money on a top-of-the-range playmaker in January. Then again, that Bruno has been a success surely speaks to the clarity of communication at Carrington, as does the design of some of the set-pieces from which his influence has told. It’s gone far better than could be expected.

Not all of it is perfect, but that doesn’t mean that it’s all useless. Conveniently, that’s a neat, appropriate summation of Solskjaer himself. The Fergusonisms need to go. So does the general rhetoric. But some of his coaching substance is compelling and certainly intriguing enough to warrant further exploration. Man Utd have certainly had it worse in the past.

Seb Stafford-Bloor is on Twitter

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