Man United lost the Europa League final this week, going down 11-10 on penalties to Villarreal. And according to pundit Paul Scholes, the lack of pressure on the manager is one of the main reasons why his former side looked so blunt on Wednesday.
Manchester United went 1-0 down in the first half but thanks to a poacher’s goal from Edinson Cavani, the Premier League side came back into the match but eventually lost in the shootout.
After scoring the goal, it looked like Man United would throw the kitchen sink at Villarreal but as the game went on, the Red Devils became much more comfortable by taking a back seat and playing out the minutes.
“It’s difficult to come out of that game and give them credit,” said the ex-United man speaking to BT Sport, as quoted.
“They weren’t very good tonight, they’ll hold their hands up, the manager will hold his hands up. But overall, there’s been progress.
“The thing I worry about, does losing hurt them enough? As a United player, when you lose games, look at the last three or four weeks – they’ve lost games, does it really hurt?”
“It’s almost become an accepted thing. From Ole’s point of view, where’s the demands on him?
“I don’t think they’ll be saying you have to win a trophy or you’re gone. He’s made progress, which is progress from the last three or four years, but if you go back further, then clearly not because this club expects to win trophies.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still can't get his hands on a trophy as Manchester United manager 😬 pic.twitter.com/EOCmlZhshE
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 26, 2021
After several semi-final failures, Manchester United had finally managed to reach a major final under Ole Solskjaer. But despite being the favourites, the English sides failed to live up to the hype.
Apart from a few good spells from United, the Spanish side looked totally in control, more so since the United boss refused to make the tough calls and make necessary substitutions. While Emery chose to make constant substitutions during the match, to keep his players fresh, most of Manchester United’s subs came on during extra-time.
Comparing to the start of the season, this campaign will be considered a success but Solskjaer really needs to win silverwares next season if he wishes to rub shoulders with the best in the league as well as in Europe. And this urgency should come from the club’s hierarchy since right now, the Norwegian boss is taking his own sweet time to get things back on track.
