LONDON • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may yet rue being unable to beef up his defence, should Manchester United fail in their bid to make the Premier League's top four.
Today, at Leicester, they will face Harry Maguire, a centre-back Jose Mourinho wanted to sign before the start of this season. The board's refusal to sanction a move deepened divisions and the fallout ended with the manager's December sacking as the team struggled.
Caretaker manager Solskjaer, publicly at least, appears less concerned about the lack of defensive signings but a shortage of quality in that area remains an issue. Leicester's pace in attack may well cause problems and he knows it.
"They've beaten Manchester City and Chelsea over the past couple of months, so it will be a tough game," said the Norwegian. "They are a team full of energy and pace in attack, with Jamie Vardy, Demarai Gray and James Maddison.
"And they defend well when they drop back. It's hard to break them down. It will be a challenge."
Last Tuesday, in the 2-2 home league draw with Burnley, their defensive problems were exposed and they needed a late fightback.
Mourinho was again proven right about his assessment that his four senior centre-backs, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof, were not up to standard. They have kept just four clean sheets in 24 league matches.
Solskjaer preferred Jones and Lindelof as his central pairing, with Bailly as a stand-in.
The 45-year-old has proven in the past that he can solve defensive issues given time.
In his two spells as manager of Norwegian club Molde, their goals-against record improved after his first season, helped by wise investment in the transfer market.
But despite becoming the first Red Devils boss to start with eight wins, six in the league and two in the FA Cup, he may not be kept on beyond this season.
One man who should be around is Anthony Martial, who has just signed a deal that commits him to the club until at least June 2024, with the option for a further year.
Solskjaer has challenged him to follow in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo. He said: "You can't just rely on what you do now.
"I speak about my experience at this club with Cristiano and what Anthony can achieve. I talk about Cristiano's career, what he's made, how he's got there."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LEICESTER V MAN UNITED
Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, 10.05pm
Cardiff claim they are shocked by a report that the pilot in the plane crash that killed Emiliano Sala was not qualified to fly at night. The Premier League club said they remain "deeply concerned
Cardiff 'shocked' by Sala pilot report | theScore.com
Barcelona suffered a shock defeat at Real Sociedad to give their title rivals hope, with Wolfsburg the only other quarter-finalists who did not take three points on Saturday.
Anumanthan Kumar - Wikipedia
man city to get points deduction, cl ban & transfer ban? | football leaks allegations analysis
Manchester City could face a Uefa ban from Champions League
Eleven Sports hit by poor take-up rate in UK LONDON • Eleven Sports, the self-styled "Netflix of Sports" controlled by Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, could be facing closure in the UK & Ireland after failing to attract enough subscribers.
Eleven Sports may be facing closure in UK after only four
- Liverpool injuries - ===== Klopp reiterated his belief that Lovren's injury is a justification for why he was right to rest players such as Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino
Klopp denies Liverpool's lighter schedule is title advantage
Apr 06, 2019 · Teenage sensation Moise Kean scored the winner to put Juventus one step away from an eighth consecutive Serie A title on Saturday as a 2-1 comeback win over AC Milan pushed the champions 21 points
Kean winner puts Juventus on brink of Serie A title
Football News. 24/7. but Spurs encountered a Barcelona side on a mission, spearheaded by their effervescent skipper who seems to be on a personal crusade to take his beloved club back to the
Messi on a mission: Barcelona are Champions League - goal.com
The Toffees will come into clash with much confidence after winning their last league clash 2-0 against Chelsea as they look to end the Hammers' six home win streak.
West Ham 0-2 Everton REPORT: Bernard and Zouma secure
When Everything Seems To Be Going Wrong Imagine you've already achieved a desired goal If you do this despite whatever fears the prospect of doing so brings, eventually others will be
11 Quotes to Remember When Everything Is Going Wrong
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said he was not disappointed by his players' effort despite suffering a surprise 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for the home side at the Etihad but Palace hit back with goals from Jeffrey Schlupp and Andros Townsend followed by a Luka Milivojevic penalty.
Guardiola stays cool despite shock Man City defeat - The Edition
Vow of 'continued success' - theworldnews.net
Neil Warnock has held countless news conferences during his 40-year coaching career but none quite like Monday's when the Cardiff City boss spoke for the first time of his anguish at the
Unai Emery thinks it is possible for Liverpool to emulate Arsenal's 'Invincibles' team from the 2003-04 Premier League season. The Gunners, under the management of Arsene Wenger, retained
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar