Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be very happy with his squad at this moment in time for what they have achieved on the pitch since the Premier League restart. His squad has thrilled with their attacking endeavours with Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood providing 56 goals and 21 assists in all competitions.
United are currently on a 17-match unbeaten run and will go against at Old Trafford when they welcome Southampton in the Premier League on Monday evening. United have something to achieve in this match, not only stretching their unbeaten run to 18 matches but to break into the top four of the Premier League, leapfrogging Chelsea and Leicester City.
Both clubs lost this weekend in humiliating fashion, Chelsea lost 3-0 to Sheffield United with Leicester losing 4-1 to Bournemouth. If United can take advantage of this, they could be third later this evening with advantage ahead of their rivals, now that Manchester City’s ban in European competition has been reversed after appeal.
United seem to be playing free-flow attacking football at this time, which is all I have ever wanted to see since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012/13 season. Some suggest a degree of attacking freedom is the reason for this. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says differently with a strict framework across the front three of his team.
Both Rashford and Martial have scored 20 goals this season, both reaching their best ever season for United with teenage attacker Greenwood scoring 16 goals so far, four of them in United’s last three matches alone. Solskjaer was asked about the trio, how they rotate and if they are modelled on Barcelona trio Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar. Solskjaer said:
“It’s not new for United! Did you not watch Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez when they were playing when Sir Alex gave them some freedom?
“Within a framework and structure, we do work a lot on patterns and positions and where we want the players to be, but within that we understand that you might pop up on the right or the left or be in different positions, but we have to fill different positions.
“There has been too much, last year, sometimes this year, players want to gravitate over to the left, and go on there and play tippy-tappy football.
“That is something we wanted to get rid of, and we have been more progressive and more disciplined in our positions.”
United have just four matches to play in the Premier League, including Monday’s match with Southampton. They play again on Thursday, travelling to London to face Crystal Palace before their Emirates FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Sunday. Then, to complete the domestic season, a visit to Old Trafford for West Ham United before United face Leicester City away on the final day fo the season.
