FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Wolves was an opportunity squandered
Monday 4 November 2019 14:08, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called it the poorest performance but was it also his missed chance? Adam Bate gives his verdict from Molineux on a night when Manchester United's hopes of winning silverware under their caretaker manager suffered a significant blow...
Manchester United are making memories under Solskjaer and that matters. Nobody will ever forget the events in Paris whatever happens against Barcelona next month. But as Solskjaer is fond of pointing out, United are a club that wins trophies, so the FA Cup was the obvious prize to underline the dramatic turnaround under his leadership.
Instead, United served up what Solskjaer himself described as their poorest performance of his reign. The 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League might have been disappointing but it was not entirely deserved. Romelu Lukaku had the better chances. The 2-1 defeat at Wolves in the FA Cup quarter-final was different. It was, as he admitted, a backward step.
"We never had the urgency or the quality on the ball," said Solskjaer. "The tempo wasn't high enough so we played into their hands really. I think we felt too comfortable in possession. We never managed to put their goalkeeper under pressure." Indeed, Marcus Rashford's consolation goal in stoppage time was United's second shot on target all game.
Solskjaer has succeeded in restoring United's counter-attack but on the night that he also restored Paul Pogba's captain's armband, his players produced a performance that harked back to the days of his predecessor. United dominated the ball but everything was too slow and they lacked the imagination to break down an organised defence.
In the press conference afterwards, it was difficult to fault Solskjaer. He was generous in his appraisal of the opposition and disarmingly frank about the efforts of his own team without throwing his players under the bus. He had said what needed to be said, he explained, but would not be sharing that with the media. Then came the rallying call for the fans.
"We are ready to go again after the internationals," he continued. "We have so much to play for. We cannot wait for the challenge for third and, of course, big nights like when Barcelona come. There are so many highlights to look forward to. Don't worry about the players' attitude because when we come back again we will give it a good go."
Solskjaer has certainly done that but how he could have done with continuing this FA Cup run. Having seen off Arsenal and Chelsea only Wolves stood in the way of a trip to Wembley - and they now play Watford for a place in the final. Whisper it but this might also have been United's best chance of denying Manchester City their unprecedented quadruple.
It was about more than stopping others though. Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho know from experience that it takes more than a trophy or three to keep this job, but Solskjaer is the one who has embraced that tradition. "April and May at Manchester United we narrow the focus and it's now about winning trophies," he said on the eve of the Wolves game.
There was a tweak to the statement after the defeat with the reference to winning trophies removed but the sentiment staying the same. "Manchester United in April and May always find our form," he said in one of his now customary references to the club's glory days.
But United need to beat Barcelona if they are to progress to the last four of the Champions League. That is now their only shot at silverware this season and it is a long one. It's a pity because while the FA Cup did not save Van Gaal it might have been the making of Solskjaer.
The critics of Mauricio Pochettino, the one time favourite to become United's next boss before the caretaker started racking up the wins, like to point to the absence of trophies on the Tottenham's coach's resume as evidence that he is not the right man for the job.
In fact, it was Pochettino's comment about them in January that offered Solskjaer the perfect opportunity to position himself as a contrast to his prospective rival. After the Argentine implied that domestic cups were merely about ego, Solskjaer soon said: "We can't just say top four and that's it. We've got to look whether we can win something this year."
Given that the odds of that now stand at 16/1 with most bookmakers, it seems the answer to that question is likely to be no. If so, his suitability to take Manchester United forwards next season and beyond will be assessed in a more sober climate than the euphoria that greeted the team's unexpected and exhilarating triumph against Paris Saint-Germain.
A defeat or two can lend that perspective. It can lead to more forensic analysis. It might even spark renewed debate about the difference between the man who can correct course and the individual best placed to plot a new path; between the coach who can get his team playing when free of expectation and the one who can convince them to embrace it.
They are key questions, ones worth asking even if the answer still turns out to be that extending Solskjaer's reign is simply the right thing to do. But questions that could not have been asked had he been able to add some more FA Cup magic to go with the European exploits. For that reason, the competition can only be seen as an opportunity missed.
