Manchester United and Leeds United finished goalless today, in a match that was extremely physical and evenly contested, but lacked for highlights.
There were a few critical plays, but those mostly came in the first half, which we already covered over at this link, part one of our #MUNLEE news and notes segment today. In part two, we start by covering manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s prediction gone awry.
Solskjær: "It's not going to be 0-0, I can guarantee it's not going to be 0-0. It's two teams who want to attack and attack as quickly as they can. We know that when we attack they're very dangerous on the counter-attack [and vice-versa]." #mulive [mutv]
— utdreport (@utdreport) April 25, 2021
Solskjaer is being heavily criticized right now on social media for not making his substitutions until very very late in the contest. Specifically, the fact that Donny Van De Beek, a $55 million summer signing who isn’t be given many chances right now, came on again very late, in the 89′, and logged a whole three minutes.
It feels like any time the Dutchman gets playing time, it’s very small in duration. Here is just a small of sample of some of the Twitter postings being made in the United fan cyberspace community about DVDB.
Ole has no respect for Van De Beek and it shows
— Trey (@UTDTrey) April 25, 2021
Van De Beek gets 2 minutes…..what's the point
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) April 25, 2021
Van de Beek when Ole asks him to go in at the 89th minute. #ManUtd pic.twitter.com/g7ywLA1mtn
— Republic of MUFC Official (@RepublicOfMUFC) April 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/mufcjulia/status/1386331650691321860
Elsewhere Paul Pogba made his 200th senior team appearance for United today, but he didn’t come on until the 76′ and only played 19 minutes. That could be because he’s fasting for Ramadan, and that religious practice can obviously take a toll on your body.
Instead, Dan James logged 70 minutes. Pogba maintains that he can fast, and keep up his match fitness and energy levels, as he said the following today:
Pogba on fasting during Ramadan: “I’ve been doing it for years. I have a professional nutritionist as well here, who helps me with what I have to eat and also when I train, he gives me some stuff, some protein, so I don’t lose too much muscle and it’s okay.” #mufc
— United Zone (@ManUnitedZone_) April 24, 2021
Pogba on Ramadan: “I’m lucky. It’s not that hot, you know, so I can deal with it. It’s not that hard, you know. It’s okay and it’s for a good cause so it’s good.” [mu] #mufc
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) April 24, 2021
Coincidentally, Pogba’s very first senior team appearance in football came against Leeds as well, in a 2011 League Cup clash- so it has all come full circle for the Frenchman.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.