Pranav Nair
Manchester United urged to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Marcelo Bielsa
Speaking on TalkSport (h/t Leeds Live), former Chelsea forward Tony Cascarino has urged Manchester United to hire Marcelo Bielsa.
The Red Devils put up an abject performance in their season opener against Crystal Palace. The team looked out of sorts and fell to a deserved 3-1 loss.
As if to rub salt on the wounds, it was former United star Wilfried Zaha who scored twice to ensure our season got off to the worst possible start.
United have looked a different beast since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes last January. This was taken up a notch since the restart as the front three of Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial fired on all cylinders.
This saw us finish third behind Liverpool and Manchester City. With us expected to push on this season, the reversal to Palace is a reality check.
Cascarino believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were not just outplayed but also outthought. He believes United lacked urgency, with the Norwegian getting a number of decisions wrong.
“I was watching Leeds in the earlier game, and then watching Man United at 5:30pm and I was thinking, ‘maybe United do need something different’. Not players, but maybe they need Bielsa.”
Bielsa is a celebrated coach with an eye for detail and an exquisite system of play. Regardless of our rivalry, one has to admit that the work he has done at Leeds United is nothing short of impressive.
Not pulling his weight?
While it can be argued that United made just one major signing this summer, the argument holds little weight in the loss to Palace. In fact, the lone positive has to be Donny van de Beek’s debut goal.
We lacked hunger, inspiration and leadership, and were largely rudderless at times.
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While Solskjaer has done much, he should have no excuses for losing to Crystal Palace, with all due respect to the Eagles.
Harping about our unbeaten run last season does little to help us when we are already behind our rivals this campaign. The Norwegian will have to rally his troops and get them firing once again if we are to harbour any hopes of having a successful campaign.
A dependable player for United, Solskajer has earned much goodwill with his important goals. Unless he turns our fortunes around, he risks damaging that very legacy.
