Man City defeat shows why Man Utd must sack tactically inept Solskjaer

Stefan Bienkowski

• 6 Nov 2021 14:26 GMT
• 4 min read

Even Gary Neville was incapable of making excuses for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his Manchester United side’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Midway through the broadcast on Sky Sports, the former defender muttered his anger at City’s clear superiority across the pitch and just about laid the blame at his old teammate.

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"Pep Guardiola knows the game better than... everyone in the world," said Neville, with a notable pause to stop himself from muttering the Man Utd manager’s name. But anyone listening or indeed watching the game knew exactly what the former Man Utd player meant.

Not only did Man City win the match, but they managed to do so without ever breaking a sweat. And in the process the English champions perfectly illustrated just how tactically inept Man Utd’s under-fire manager really is.

— david scott (@arghkid) November 6, 2021

Solskjaer’s tactical mistakes

Rather than having one formation or system that he obtusely sticks to through thick and thin, Solskjaer’s main issue at Man Utd is that he changes his tactics and starting XI depending on which way the wind blows.

The Old Trafford side started in a 3-4-3 formation for no reason other than the fact that it worked by chance against Tottenham Hotspur a week before. Within five minutes it was clear that Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw were certainly not wing-backs and after seven minutes City had their first goal when Joao Cancelo fired a cross in and forced an own goal from Eric Bailly.

Replays adequately showed the limitations of Solskjaer’s new formation. Rather than Wan-Bissaka or indeed Bailly coming out to meet Cancelo to stop the cross, it was none other than No.10 Bruno Fernandes jovially jogging out to meet his compatriot. City were happily passing the ball through Man Utd’s porous side.

Grasping at straws on the subs bench

If Man Utd’s new-look formation and tactics weren’t enough to showcase Solskjaer’s wavering conviction, the Norwegian manager’s substitutions in the second half once again pointed to a novice tactician that was making it up as he went along.

First came Jadon Sancho - a player that has been all but ostracised since joining from Borussia Dortmund in the summer - and then with 10 minutes to go Solskjaer turned to none other than Donny van de Beek to try and grasp some late inspiration for Man Utd.

To no one’s surprise, both underplayed and confidence stricken players were unable to offer much at all and in the end City strolled to another victory at Old Trafford. But what will hurt Man Utd fans much more than simply losing three points will be the gulf in quality on the pitch and on the sidelines between both clubs right now.