Manchester United lost 2-0 against Arsenal yesterday following an abject first half display.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remain fifth but missed the chance to make up ground in the race for the Champions League spots, with Chelsea, Tottenham and Wolves all dropping points.
That result – and the nature of the performance – has raised a host of questions for Solskjaer and we’ve picked out three of the most pressing.
Will the penny ever drop about consistency?
United had been on a decent run, with just one defeat in nine Premier League games going into the New Year.
But United take promising periods as an invitation to slacken off and yesterday’s performance was absolutely insipid.
As soon as United find some form, complacency and inconsistency follows, setting them back to square one.
Solskjaer and Harry Maguire have made the right noises about consistency after recent games but the message simply isn’t getting through to the squad.
That mentality will undermine everything Solskjaer is trying to achieve if he cannot change it.
How many more chances will Shaw get?
Solskjaer has restored Luke Shaw to the first team after an extended absence but he was ripped apart by Nicolas Pepe yesterday.
Shaw offers none of the facets a modern elite full back should have; he is poor defensively, lacks speed and endurance and offers little going forward.
Solskjaer may be looking to move on from Ashley Young and manage Brandon Williams carefully, but Shaw should be running out of chances now.
What is going on in central midfield?
Solskjaer was quoted by the Independent saying Scott McTominay faces ‘a few months’ out with the injury he picked up against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
That’s a much more serious prognosis than the one initially suspected and Paul Pogba is another who now faces an extended spell out.
Solskjaer said Pogba was in contention to face Arsenal, but the pre-match team news was that he faces surgery and yet more time out.
Whether Pogba is trying to force a move or the medical team have got it wrong initially about him and McTominay, United face even more serious problems in the engine room than they had already.
United let Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera leave – as well as moving Nemanja Matic to the brink of departure – without a single new face from either the academy or the transfer market stepping into the breach.
How does Solskjaer make a central midfield out of that? It’s a huge question to answer.
- What Man Utd’s data department has decided about £85m target Mateus Fernandes
- How Ruben Amorim taking over at AC Milan saves Man Utd millions, figures explained
- Why Kobbie Mainoo is the biggest winner from Casemiro’s World Cup disaster with Brazil
- Michael Carrick deserves more credit for his tactical brilliance after Brazil’s draw vs Morocco
- Forget Fernandes, Fabrizio Romano shares Man Utd are in ‘active contacts’ with exciting PL star
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
