Newcastle 1-0 Man Utd: More problems for Ole’s young Red Devils

Although the main focus of gameweek eight was Liverpool beating Leicester City in the last moments of the game, typically from the penalty spot, and Man City dropping points once again, this time at home to Wolves. It was a great chance for Manchester United to get back to winning ways just before the international break, as they faced a cold and wet trip away to Newcastle United.

The match as a whole, was one-sided in favour of the visitors in terms of the control in possession and the amount of successful passes that were completed in general. Though, the hosts piled on the pressure half way through the first half and were not afraid to attack United’s defence through drive and pace of both Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron, who played with great confidence.

After the half-time break, the breakthrough came for Newcastle in 72nd minute of the match, where they were able to counter-attack from a Man Utd corner, with Matthew Longstaff scoring an absolute peach of a goal from just outside of the box. A number of questions were raised about the visitor’s individual defending, as they could have done a lot to prevent the goal from happening.

Towards the final 15 to 20 minutes of the game, the Red Devils did begin to cause problems and attack with more intent into the final third of the pitch, but Newcastle’s stubborn and physical defence were able to see it out till the final whistle. Steve Bruce’s men were able to achieve the three much needs points whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have to go back to the drawing board.

Here are the three valuable factors we learnt from United’s latest league fixture…

Ole’s days at the club look pretty much numbered

It’s not been a good couple of weeks for Ole personally, with his last victory in the league being back in the middle of September and since then, he has failed to beat the likes of West Ham, Arsenal and now Newcastle United. Not only that, his team completed an unconvincing performance away to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League whilst failing to beat Rochdale in the League Cup within normal time.

For sure, it is not straightforward to explain or the state the reasons of the side’s downfall, but it has been a huge ask to request a former manager of Cardiff City and Molde to bring stability to a big club like Man Utd and guide them to success in all the competitions they take part in. Also, given the lack of quality and squad depth, the Norwegian’s time at Old Trafford looks to be numbered day by day.

Decisions and planning are badly required during the international break

Everyone at Manchester United will be more than happy that two weeks of international football has arrived, as they can aim to think about the club’s plan for the remainder of the season and what would be the ideal for the manager and the players. Some rumours have began in possibly sacking Ole before the Liverpool game, whilst others have raised that a full meeting between everyone to discuss ongoing matters and how to solve them would be the more appropriate approach.

Truth be told, the greedy and incompetent owners as well as Ed Woodward, do not really bother with how the football club do on the pitch, as long as they are making enough money off it and are seeing the value of the club continue to increase. It just happens to be one of the reasons to why they have spent around £1billion over the last six to seven years, yet there has been no consistent success in the Champions League or in the Premier League, which pretty much sums up everything.

The young Man Utd squad are clearly lacking leaders and world class players

Majority of the English media and the Premier League experts were expecting the Red Devils to have a difficult season and see themselves experience most of the campaign outside of the top-six finish. And, that has proven to be the case, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United are missing the required quality in midfield and most importantly in attack, to guide them to a Champions League spot and any potential success in the cup competition.

With the club failing to bring in a number of players throughout the summer transfer window, whilst already ignoring the departure of both Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku, it was never going to be an easy and simple season for the club as a whole. On top of that, the lack of leaders was an important factor that needed work on over the summer, as the squad have a consistency to crumble when they are needed the most, and have a tendency to not step up, which happens to still be the same outcome.

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