IT’S ALL GUNN VERY WRONG
Solskjaer cuts a lonely figure as De Gea admits: Embarrassing to see United play like that
IN the build-up to this game Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have been forgiven for picturing a scenario in which he’d leave Sir Elton John’s favourite stadium humming ‘I’m Still Standing’ on the back of a criticquietening victory.
The cold reality of the situation could hardly have been more different, though, and as he trudged out of Vicarage Road last night, the Manchester United manager will have known this defeat could well have been the one that spelled the end for him.
United were utterly dismal, especially in the first half. And although there was the slightest improvement after the break, it really wasn’t much better.
Certainly not after skipper Harry Maguire was sent off on 69 minutes for a second bookable offence.
And definitely not when United fully capitulated in stoppage-time as Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Dennis added to first-half goals from Joshua King and Ismaila Sarr.
“Nightmare after nightmare after nightmare,” said keeper David de Gea. “It was embarrassing to see Man United play like we did. It’s easy to blame the manager or the staff, but sometimes it’s the players. We need to show much more than we are doing.
“Embarrassing first half – we could’ve conceded four goals in 45 minutes.
“I’ve been in difficult moments and always believe in myself but there are difficult moments we have to be strong in mind and body. We are paid to play for United and to do better than that.”
Watford and Claudio Ranieri deserve massive credit, of course, because the Hornets were exceptional.
But the performance United turned in was unacceptable for a club of their stature.
If the Leicester, Liverpool and Manchester City defeats were bad, this was simply embarrassing.
There has been a hope among the United hierarchy that they might be able to wait until the summer to make any change.
But pulling the trigger on Solskjaer now looks unavoidable.
Certainly, there were groups of United fans here who made it
clear
when Solskjaer went to avoid the travelling supporters at the end that they want him gone. They hurled abuse his way and motioned for him to get out of the club. And when Bruno Fernandes, as guilty as anyone in a United shirt of turning in a turgid display, gestured back at them in defence of his boss, he copped an earful as well.
It had been a merciless afternoon with ‘Ole’s at the wheel’ sung gleefully by home fans.
They suggested he’d be ‘sacked in the morning’ for good measure.
Solskjaer is a likeable man and it was hard not to feel sympathy as he cut a lonely figure in the dugout.
But he is man enough to know the way of the world and will have recognised a team that hardly looked like they are playing for their manager.
In fact, this was a group of individuals no longer playing for their manager and had rings run round them.
United fans called for Donny van de Beek after 30 minutes and Solskjaer obliged at the break, sending him on for Scott Mctominay and hooking Marcus Rashford for Anthony Martial. It did improve slightly, with Van De Beek halving the deficit, but United didn’t have enough in the locker to haul them back in.
On Tuesday, they face Villarreal in the Champions League. The question now is whether Solskjaer will still be with them.