Young Boys 2 -1 Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Tactical Decisions Under Scrutiny Following Defeat
- 3 years ago
Manchester United have added some huge signings but their dramatic 2-1 defeat to Young Boys in the Champions League was a defeat engineered from the dugout.
Manchester United have brought a legend home, signed one of the game’s greatest defenders and added one of the brightest prospects in European football. But at the highest level matches can still be lost from the bench and this was one of them.
It was Jesse Lingard's rash back-pass that allowed Young Boys to complete a dramatic 2-1 win on this Champions League opener. It was Aaron Wan-Bissaka's lunge that left his team down to 10 men, changing the course of the evening.
But it was Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer whose tactical decisions ensured that the Swiss side deserved the points.
Everything had looked to be going to plan when Cristiano Ronaldo - who else? - put United ahead inside the opening quarter of an hour. But the red card to Wan-Bissaka late in the first half put the onus back on the manager. Things began to unravel.
The initial decision to replace Jadon Sancho with Diogo Dalot was explicable. United needed a right-back on the pitch. The subsequent move to switch to a back three at half-time, bringing on Raphael Varane for Donny van de Beek, was far from necessary.
Solskjaer's side went into containment mode, attempting to defend their one-goal lead but showing little appetite to do anything more than that. United did not even muster a shot after the 25th minute of a match in which their opponents had 19 of them.
Their total of two shots is the fewest that they have had in any of their 138 Champions League matches since Opta began keeping records of such things in the 2003/04 season.
"Manchester United couldn't get out of their half," Paul Merson told Sky Sports.
"If that was Manchester City with ten men, Young Boys wouldn't have touched the ball."
Some might think it is harsh to judge the performance once Wan-Bissaka had been sent from the field but the one-man advantage enjoyed by Young Boys hardly merited such caution, such paucity of ambition. Better teams would have offered more.
"Look at the substitutions," added Merson.
"You want the ball going the other way because if the ball goes the other way then your opponents cannot squeeze the game. That is all Young Boys did. They pushed up to the halfway line because there was no threat behind.
"Without that threat, you aren't going to win too many football matches. If you are going to bring Ronaldo off, bring Mason Greenwood on because he has the pace."
#YoungBoys #ManchesterUnited #CristianoRonaldo #Solskjaer
Source: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12408163/young-boys-2-1-manchester-united-ole-gunnar-solskjaers-tactical-decisions-under-scrutiny-following-defeat
Manchester United have brought a legend home, signed one of the game’s greatest defenders and added one of the brightest prospects in European football. But at the highest level matches can still be lost from the bench and this was one of them.
It was Jesse Lingard's rash back-pass that allowed Young Boys to complete a dramatic 2-1 win on this Champions League opener. It was Aaron Wan-Bissaka's lunge that left his team down to 10 men, changing the course of the evening.
But it was Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer whose tactical decisions ensured that the Swiss side deserved the points.
Everything had looked to be going to plan when Cristiano Ronaldo - who else? - put United ahead inside the opening quarter of an hour. But the red card to Wan-Bissaka late in the first half put the onus back on the manager. Things began to unravel.
The initial decision to replace Jadon Sancho with Diogo Dalot was explicable. United needed a right-back on the pitch. The subsequent move to switch to a back three at half-time, bringing on Raphael Varane for Donny van de Beek, was far from necessary.
Solskjaer's side went into containment mode, attempting to defend their one-goal lead but showing little appetite to do anything more than that. United did not even muster a shot after the 25th minute of a match in which their opponents had 19 of them.
Their total of two shots is the fewest that they have had in any of their 138 Champions League matches since Opta began keeping records of such things in the 2003/04 season.
"Manchester United couldn't get out of their half," Paul Merson told Sky Sports.
"If that was Manchester City with ten men, Young Boys wouldn't have touched the ball."
Some might think it is harsh to judge the performance once Wan-Bissaka had been sent from the field but the one-man advantage enjoyed by Young Boys hardly merited such caution, such paucity of ambition. Better teams would have offered more.
"Look at the substitutions," added Merson.
"You want the ball going the other way because if the ball goes the other way then your opponents cannot squeeze the game. That is all Young Boys did. They pushed up to the halfway line because there was no threat behind.
"Without that threat, you aren't going to win too many football matches. If you are going to bring Ronaldo off, bring Mason Greenwood on because he has the pace."
#YoungBoys #ManchesterUnited #CristianoRonaldo #Solskjaer
Source: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12408163/young-boys-2-1-manchester-united-ole-gunnar-solskjaers-tactical-decisions-under-scrutiny-following-defeat