Manchester United had a dramatic second-half comeback that beat Atalanta at Old Trafford. However, they haven’t overcome some of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s biggest problems.
Half-time at Manchester United had a dramatic second-half comeback that beat Atalanta at Old Trafford’s Champions League match against Atalanta was when some observers began to write Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s footballing funeral.
Solskjaer’s team lost 2-0 to their tired visitors. Mario Pasalic scored the opening goal, and Merih Diemal took advantage of that score to make it 2-0.
Yet, United and their manager still remained on top, thanks to Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford, and a Cristiano Ronaldo winner.
The result may feel more important than the performance at this point, but there are still many questions.
This was typical of the Solskjaer age when individual moments helped United recover from individual limitations that put them in difficulty. That doesn’t always bode well.
The narrative surrounding Solskjaer’s tenure over the past year has changed from week to week. Wednesday night, however, saw that story flip on its head in the span of 90 minutes.
Paul Scholes, a former United player midfielder, felt frustrated by the performance. BT Sport suggested that with a match against Liverpool looming, no one should get too excited about the club’s prospects.
Although Solskjaer was credited for making the important selection decisions going into the game we are still not sure if those decisions were better or worse than others. One would think there is only so long this can continue.
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Much of the discussion before kick-off revolved around Solskjaer’s decision to play Fred and Scott McTominay in a double pivot, leaving Paul Pogba at the bench.
However, the dust has settled and it can be said that United won despite it. Atalanta had plenty of chances throughout.
Pogba’s introduction was not a game-changing moment. The Frenchman entered after Bruno Fernandes’s brilliant goal. This gave the hosts hope and convinced the crowd that a comeback was possible.
What does it say about the way the squad is being used if a bold tactical decision has no tangible effect?
United faces Liverpool as they prepare for the match, but have not learned any concrete information about what might work or fail.
They scored three goals but they were against a team that had key defenders missing from the beginning, lost another partway through, and played 90 minutes with a center-back midfielder.
It’s not something you can do every week, but it is something you have to do. Last season, United lost against a Liverpool team with back-ups Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips.
Furthermore, this is not the first performance we’ve seen United perform this way, and it’s not even their first season.
Sometimes it ends in defeat. This was the case with the Leicester trip last weekend.
They have also won on other occasions, like the win over Villarreal. This is despite all of their previous failures.
Solskjaer was part of Manchester United’s era of relentless attacking and individual brilliance. This is why it’s so thrilling to be a Manchester United fan and witness this type of win.
Even so, this quality was not sufficient without the faith that the team could improve structurally every week.
The best teams will react to one error by making sure it doesn’t happen again. And the best managers will be in a position to instill this in their team.
United boasts more talent than any other club, so moments of quality like the one against Atalanta will occur more often than others.
There’s still a feeling that the squad has enough talent that they shouldn’t be overlooked. Not required they shouldn’t win like that, and they definitely shouldn’t Keep it upIt is necessary to do this after more than 100 games with the same manager.