Patience Paying Off for Manchester United and Solskjaer

13/03/20 7126

At the time of writing Manchester United have 9 games remaining in the Premier League this season. They are 3 points behind Chelsea who currently occupy the 4th and final Champions League qualifying position and 8 points behind 3rd place Leicester City.

The Red Devils also have a great opportunity to reach the quarter-final of the Europa League and have already progressed to the quarter-final of the FA Cup.

Therefore, Manchester United still have a very good opportunity to qualify for the Champions League next season and lift two trophies.

You must only go back to the beginning of January to find many people questioning the future of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manager of Manchester United. The 2-0 loss at Arsenal in the Premier League on the 1st of January was seen as a major dent in the season for Manchester United and also the future of Solskjaer as manager.

Later in the month, Manchester United lost 2-0 at Liverpool and 2-0 at home against Burnley. both were disappointing results but the home loss against Burnley was difficult to take and yet again it appeared as though time was running out for Solskjaer in the Manchester United dugout. However, since that defeat Manchester United have remained unbeaten in 10 matches in all competitions.

There have been victories over Manchester City, Chelsea and Derby County away from home plus wins over Watford, Club Brugges and Manchester City at home. The victory over Manchester City in the Premier League on the weekend completed a first league double over their local rivals in a decade. What has prompted this great spell of form at Old Trafford.

One of the key factors without doubt has been the addition of attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes. Since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United have not lost a game. The Portuguese international has not only brought much needed creativity in the centre of the pitch, he also has fantastic energy levels. Towards the end of the victory over Manchester City on Sunday afternoon Fernandes was still chasing the ball down despite having put in a demanding shift.

Fernandes has made Paul Pogba a forgotten man at Old Trafford and would the blow of losing the French international in the summer be as big as it seemed a few months ago?

The defence has also improved in recent weeks and Manchester United have kept 8 clean sheets in their last 10 matches in all competitions. There have been some tough games in there including two against Manchester City plus an away match at Chelsea and a home game against in-form Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Following the win over Manchester City on Sunday, Solskjaer said, “It shows we’re on the right track”. It will be interesting to see if the good form continues until the end of the season and what that will mean in terms of player recruitment in the summer.