Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has offered his thoughts on Manchester United’s midfield after a humiliating defeat to Leicester City.
Speaking to the media after the game, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opened up about his team’s midfield frailties after succumbing to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Leicester City.
It was a disappointing performance from the Manchester United side that was missing their defensive lynchpin Raphael Varane while Solskjaer also failed to call upon his trusted midfield duo of Fred and Scott McTominay for one reason or another.
Instead, the Manchester United boss opted for the midfield combination of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in the double pivot. Unfortunately, neither of them were able to make their presence felt, instead getting completely dominated by Youri Tielemans and Boubakary Soumare in the middle of the park.
Solskjaer, though, has refused to blame either player after the game, despite outlining his team’s frailties in midfield. Speaking to media, as cited by Manchester Evening News, the Manchester United manager stated that his team was “too easy to play through”.
“I wouldn’t say that’s all on Nemanja and Paul, that’s the team as a whole. We need to be compact, we need to be more aggressive, we dealt with the runs in behind well enough but maybe dropping off them a bit gave them too much space. But that’s the whole team, not just Paul and Nemanja. I’ve not heard what Brendan’s said but if he felt that…”
However, Solskjaer did believe that Manchester United were far too porous defensively, suggesting, “We weren’t good enough on the second balls, didn’t win the 50-50s, didn’t nick the ball, or win the ball in good enough areas because we’re so good at winning it and going forward and didn’t see enough of that today. I agree we didn’t defend well enough.”
Manchester United’s disappointing defeat to Leicester City has mounted further pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as he braces himself for a tough run of fixtures that will see his team lock horns against the likes of Liverpool, Atalanta, Tottenham and Manchester City in the coming weeks.
