Friday 10 May 2019 13:49, UK
As Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's revival stalls, Mauricio Pochettino is showing Manchester United what they are missing, writes Adam Bate.
It was only two months ago that Manchester United were the team experiencing elation in Europe. They had pulled off their own remarkable comeback to oust Paris Saint-Germain from the Champions League and suddenly anything seemed possible.
Now it's others enjoying their European moment.
Liverpool's success against Barcelona - achieved in the most dramatic of circumstances at Anfield - will have stung United supporters. But it is the drama in Amsterdam that will have put United's current malaise into sharper focus given the resources - and the man in charge.
Mauricio Pochettino, the one-time favourite to become Manchester United manager this summer, has taken Tottenham to the Champions League final. He has done so with a squad that cost - and is paid - a fraction of their Old Trafford counterparts. It is a testament to his coaching abilities and an indication of just some of the qualities still missing at United.
For a brief period earlier this year, it was possible to be convinced that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might be able to provide more than a quick fix, to believe that he could not just compete with the Premier League's more celebrated coaches but find a way to put United back on top. It was even tempting to wonder whether Pochettino had taken Spurs as far as he could.
But a lot has happened since then.
Back on March 9, United were the form team in the country under Solskjaer, having picked up more points than anyone else since his arrival. They were not only in the quarter-finals of both the FA Cup and the Champions League, they were back in the top four having overhauled both Chelsea and Arsenal. The gap to Tottenham was closing rapidly.
Back on March 9, Spurs' surprise defeat at Southampton meant that United, on the back of a club record nine consecutive away wins, went to Arsenal the following day in the knowledge that victory there would move them level with Tottenham.
Back on March 9, it was Pochettino's side whose season was at risk. They were already out of the FA Cup, having been beaten by Crystal Palace in the fourth round, and were going into a two-legged Champions League tie against Manchester City that few expected them to win.
United's hierarchy could be entitled to feel satisfied with their left-field call back then. Even if Solskjaer could not conjure up more heroics in the Camp Nou, and optimism abounded that he could, his side were the second favourites to win the FA Cup. Manchester City stood in their way in that competition but United needed to beat them over only one leg not two.
Solskjaer was shorter odds to win a trophy this season than Pochettino.
How that would have added fuel to the notion that the Spurs manager might receive the plaudits but he didn't deliver the trophies. He didn't get it like Solskjaer and his comment that minor trophies only "builds your ego" seemed to confirm it - giving the then caretaker United manager the opportunity to remind everyone that his club was all about trophies.
As the wins piled up, the view that reconnecting with the past offered a viable pathway to the future gathered apace. But the hope has dissipated just as quickly as it was built.
United's subsequent collapse in form has been swift. Call it inevitable, call it regression to the mean, but the emphatic European exit against Barcelona, coupled with a domestic defeat at Wolves, ended any cup ambitions. Despite the failings of others, two unconvincing wins in eight Premier League games has not proved enough to earn a top-four place either.
Far from correcting course, the risk now is that Solskjaer's appointment on a three-year contract only entrenches the growing gap between United and those above them. For all the jibes about Pochettino's trophy cabinet and Jurgen Klopp's record in finals, it was obvious that the work they were doing, over a long period, was working. Both maximise resources.
When was the last time that a Manchester United manager could say that?
There are more longstanding problems at the club than Solskjaer. That is clear. The search for a sporting director continues, while everything from recruitment to the culture in the dressing room is likely to come under further scrutiny during another summer of upheaval.
But the other issues facing the club only make it more important that their coach provides a strategic advantage over their rivals. Solskjaer's relative record suggests he might be just another weakness that Manchester United will need to overcome in the challenges ahead.
Could they really have convinced Pochettino to leave? It would have been prohibitively expensive even if he had been interested - Daniel Levy would have made sure of that. But there's more than one coach out there. It is a long list before you get to the Molde manager.
In acknowledging the growing threat posed by those Premier League clubs outside the top six, Solskjaer himself alerted people to that reality. There are men at mid-table clubs with coaching credentials superior to his own. The prospect of him being outwitted by Brendan Rodgers, Rafa Benitez, Nuno Espirito Santo, Marco Silva and others should not be a shock.
During those giddy early days in charge, the seductive sight of Solskjaer getting the better of Pochettino at Wembley in January felt like a big moment. United's counter-attacking victory over Spurs owed much to David de Gea's extraordinary footwork but it did suggest that this was a coach with the acumen to make the difference in the big games.
Solskjaer still deserves credit for that and he retains the faith of the fans. But this is arguably the biggest club in the world. Is there enough evidence to believe that he can implement the change needed, oversee the ins and outs, create a defined style of play, a philosophy on and off the pitch, and sustain that culture long enough to reap the rewards in the long term?
To believe that requires faith, not reason.
Four months ago, there was hope that Solskjaer was the right man. Two months ago, events seemed to have solidified that opinion. Now, the fears of folly that first greeted the appointment loom as large as ever. Manchester United might still like to think that they have the best man for the job at the helm. Tottenham know they do.
