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Liverpool FC won a roller coaster 3-2 match over Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. They blew a two-goal lead, but salvaged the win via a Mo Salah penalty.
Now they turn their focus to their longtime rivals, Manchester United, and the biggest annual match in England. Coming into this game, Liverpool are getting much healthier, which is a good sign for Jurgen Klopp as they head into a very tough stretch.
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A lot has been written and said about Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored six goals in eight games in his return to Manchester United, being just a passenger lately. Critics have hit out at how much less running he’s doing, in comparison to the rest of his teammates, game to game.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, himself taking a lot of heat right now, came to his defense.
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It goes without saying that the matches against Liverpool are the most “circle the date” of the entire calendar for Manchester United fans. The first of the two fixtures arrives with United in turmoil, as they often have been since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
There have been numerous calls for the sacking of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and talk that he has lost the dressing room. Team Captain Bruno Fernandes says that’s simply not true.
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While pontificating on Sky Sports Monday Night football, former Liverpool defender and current pundit Jamie Carragher opined that Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer simply wasn’t good enough to ever win a big, major trophies at Old Trafford.
That’s not exactly a hot take, as many people in the global football community, from all walks of life and corners of the Earth, seem to also feel that Solskjaer is out of his depth in his current gig. The 48-year-old Norwegian responded to Carragher’s remarks today, at his pre-UCL group stage match presser.
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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer just signed a contract extension in July, and so far, there hasn’t been any indication that club brass are seriously considering sacking him. That’s now though, and the situation could change drastically and quickly, should the run of awful results continue.
That’s the story heading into United’s next match, at home versus Atalanta in the Champions League competition. Calls for Solskjaer’s head are rising, especially after this past weekend’s disaster at Leicester City. It appears he’s lost some of his own players too.
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Manchester United have won just two of their last seven, and only one in their last five. With a poor run of results, such as these, it’s no surprise that morale within the team is low.
There have been multiple reports of sadness within the dressing room, and with every L that compounds, the #OleOut brigade grows. Deservedly so, as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues to look unfit for the gig.
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Say what you want about Ole Gunnar Solskajer (and a lot of people are saying harsh things about his job performance), but he’s sticking to his guns on his controversial Cristiano Ronaldo decision. Just before this past international break, Solskjaer decided to drop his superstar, for no apparent reason, in the 1-1 draw with Everton.
Club patriarch Sir Alex Ferguson was caught on camera, while talking to a MMA superstar, saying he felt that was the wrong call to make in that situation.
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Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard, 28, is a talented attacking player, in the prime of his career. However, he’s part of a very crowded attacking midfield/final third position group, where major minutes are very hard to come by.
He’s been linked with a move to FC Barcelona, among other clubs, after having had a dominant loan spell this past spring at West Ham United. It was thought he might move on from Old Trafford this summer, but instead he stayed put, and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the Englishman is part of the club’s future plans.
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Manchester United return to action on Saturday, when they’ll visit Leicester City for a Premier League fixture, beginning a key stretch that will see the level of competition rise significantly. With a ton of much bigger fixtures, both domestically and in Europe, coming up fast and furious, we have to quote Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast:
“from here on out, it only gets rougher.” Let’s see how manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, currently doing his job without the support and approval of many, if not most, of the fans, handles this all.
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Manchester United are back in first team training, and it won’t be long until another long, tedious international break is finally over. Central defender Phil Jones, who hasn’t featured in well over a year, is back training this week and he could be in line to play at Leicester City on Saturday.
Marcus Rashford, who has yet to feature this season, is also full go now, having completely recovered from his shoulder surgery. However, team captain Harry Maguire has still not returned to training.
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International breaks are always dull, but this one has been especially boring. Little of news value has happened the past couple weeks, but the injury to Manchester United central defender Raphael Varane is certainly one major headline.
The Frenchman will be sidelined for maybe 4-6 weeks, possibly more, due to the groin muscular injury he suffered in the UEFA Nations League Final against Spain. This was announced yesterday, so let’s take a look at the other fitness/injury/availability issues.
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It is official now- Manchester United will be without their first string central defender, Raphael Varane, for “a few weeks.” Given how we already know that his partner in first choice central defense, Harry Maguire, will also be out for some time, and well, the Red Devils are now set to have some major issues in this part of the park for awhile.
Guess it’ll be Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly leading the spine of the back line, for the time being. Maybe some Phil Jones action too?
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