Despite Saturday's win over Everton, consistency remains the problem for Manchester United. Keane Newby takes a look at why fixing that issue could see the good times return to Old Trafford.
After a disappointing start to the season, which saw United suffer a hammering defeat to Tottenham, on top of what could be labelled a mediocre transfer window, the sunlight might be reaching Old Trafford after all. An impressive start to a robust group in the Champions League coupled with promising performances in the Premier League, could perhaps mean Ole’s reds are ready to prove a point.
An incredible 5-0 win at home to a strong RB Leipzig team had many positive outlooks for fans. A highly anticipated start for Donny Van de Beek as well as an insight into United’s incredible depth within the attacking department are just a few.
Solskjaer was able to rest one of his most important players in Bruno Fernandes and Donny Van De Beek proved his worth and stepped up when needed. Then, after Bruno was given the call, he kept up the form he’s known for and contributed to one of five goals.
When we look further into Van De Beek’s performance, the Dutchman succeeded in 89% of passes and won three duels in the middle of the park however, the key thing to take away is how well he plays alongside Paul Pogba and Fred. Many link-ups throughout the game and solidity against a relentless Leipzig press, is a beautiful sight for most United fans who haven’t been treated to a strong and confident midfield.
Once again, from the start of the Champions League campaign, the splendid front three of United are posing a rather large threat for opposition defences. Last season, the trio accumulated 62 goals in all competitions, outscoring the rival front three of Liverpool. A first hat trick for the national treasure Marcus Rashford MBE, a sublime penalty from Anthony Martial and a thrilling performance from Mason Greenwood, reinforces the idea that they aren’t slowing down anytime soon and great things are over the horizon.
At the other end of the field, healthy competition from Dean Henderson has led to an increase in confidence for David De Gea who has found his form again, after struggling from the restart last season. To elaborate, the Spaniard displayed some divine saves against PSG, reminding us of the cat-like reactions we’ve seen him use in action in previous seasons.
In front of the keeper, the back four has advertised some auspicious performances. Both Aaron Wan-Bisakka and Axel Tuanzebe kept the tenacious Paris attack quiet all night, creating plenty of praise for Tuanzebe who hadn’t actually played since December 2019; an outstanding return to the lineup. Equally as important, Alex Telles justified his price tag with some unbelievable crosses into dangerous areas. Despite being missing from the game against Leipzig, and more recently Istanbul, the 27-year old fullback has all United fans excited for the future.
Then it’s all taken a downward turn. A disappointing defeat away to Istanbul Basaksehir has molded a great Champions League start into a fountain of apologies from the players. The defeat came after some shocking defending from what seemed a strong lineup from kickoff. Everything we saw from United in the first two matches was promising, although consistency remains a problem for Solskjaer's men. Defeat is inevitable as a football club and this is obviously taken into account, but the problem for United could be the struggle to maintain a playing style.
Over Solskjaer's short reign as a manager, we’ve seen him rely heavily on counter-attacking football, which has proved to be great against teams with a high press, just like Leipzig. This then leads to the inconsistency we see from the team as they struggle to cope against low-block sides, like we saw against the Turkish side. With the added depth to the squad, Solskjaer could try many different approaches in response to different teams’ playing styles. The first step towards consistency.
It’s of course too early to say anything about United’s chances of any trophies, although their campaign has begun with high hopes and clear areas to improve on for the rest of the season. Now it’s all about consistency. Dimitar Berbatov said:
“They (United) have lacked this (consistency) over the last while, if they find that then we can wonder about titles, but they need to win games regularly.”
One of the first wins at home in the Champions League in past times is proving that United may just be on the right course to find their consistency once again.
Originally published for The United Stand.
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