United are chasing the top four but also on the hunt for trophies
Monday 11 March 2019 09:39, UK
Can Ole Gunnar Solskjaer compete on all fronts or do Manchester United prioritise? Gary Neville on the challenge facing his old pal at Old Trafford.
Manchester United's 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday means that they have surrendered their position in the Premier League top four to the Gunners. It is going to be some scramble for the Champions League places this season. However, after United's magical night in Paris on Wednesday evening, they have unfinished business in this season's competition too.
The draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League is on Friday and after seeing off Paris-Saint Germain there will be those believing United can go all the way. The very next evening, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes his team to Molineux to take on Wolves in the last eight of the FA Cup for what surely remains their best chance of picking up silverware this season.
Given that Solskjaer is having to manage the team through something of an injury crisis, one perhaps exacerbated by the greater demands that he is placing on the players, it could mean some difficult decisions for the caretaker boss. Does he risk jeopardising United's FA Cup run? Dare he rest players in the Premier League in the pursuit of European glory?
Gary Neville sees it as an issue. "After the absolutely incredible feeling of Wednesday night you settle down on the Thursday and start to look at the fixtures and you think, oh," he told Sky Sports. "The way that Ole is asking them to play, they can't cope with it physically some of the players because they are being asked to run a lot further than they were previously."
United's next Premier League game is at home to Watford followed by another trip to Wolves but soon after there comes a run of games that could define their season.
"That period down to April 28 is a really testing period with the Champions League quarter-finals," says Neville. "The European Cup quarter-final could be Manchester City. It could be a huge game. There is potentially an FA Cup semi-final thrown in there too. There's City and Chelsea and also Everton away with a squad that's creaking under injury."
This time next month, Solskjaer's United could be up in third with one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League and having booked their place in the FA Cup final. Alternatively, they could be out of the FA Cup, up against it in the Champions League once more, while adrift of their rivals in the Premier League. The margins are that fine right now.
"The momentum is incredible but there's still a long way to go for this to be a successful season for Manchester United. It is a big opportunity but it is also a huge challenge now for Ole to manage that. It's all to play for. They just need to make sure they don't fall in between everything and end up doing well but then not concentrating on one competition or the other. That's something Ole has to manage in these next five or six weeks."
