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
Arsenal close to first summer signing as Italian reporter reveals all on 'advanced talks' ARSENAL are in "advanced talks" to sign former Atletico Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco from Chinese
Everton players have "100 per cent belief" Marco Silva will get it right. It's five losses in six now for Everton boss Silva after defeat to previous employers Watford in front of their taunting fans
Watford - malaysia.shafaqna.com
malaysia.shafaqna.com/EN/MY/hashtag/Watford
Watford | Malaysia News is a newsreader (RSS reader) providing a summary of headlines and latest news stories disseminated in the reliable news sources from Malaysia News. Malaysia News reads latest regional, national and local headlines in English and Melayu.
Watford winger Richarlison to have medical at Everton on
When compiling a list of the best players competing at the World Cup over the next four weeks, you must first acknowledge that one of the finest players, if not the finest, in the world will skip
FIFA Soccer Women's World Cup 2019 in France: 10 players to
DUBLIN, June 10 (Reuters) - Ireland had an own goal by Joseph Chipolina and an injury-time header by substitute Robbie Brady to thank for a 2-0 win over Gibraltar in their Euro 2020 Group D
Republic of Ireland beat Gibraltar to go top of Euro 2020
Bayern Munich showed all their Champions League experience and quality organisation as they held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their last 16 match at Anfield on Tuesday in a game of
The Fiji Times » Solid and smart Bayern hold Liverpool at Anfield
Maurizio Sarri says Eden Hazard is free to leave Chelsea if he wants. Maurizio Sarri says Eden Hazard is free to leave Chelsea if he wants. Ad the greatest tournament in football. He earned 4
Sarri announces Hazard can leave Chelsea if he wants to leave
Olaroiu tells Al Ahli: Forget past matches and focus on the game at hand despite Makhete Diop's brace within two minutes to subdue the Hawks. And for this we need to stay focused all the
Conte: We have to stay focused - Premier League
Football: Milan draw another blank in Frosinone stalemate as
Liverpool stun Barcelona to overcome deficit and reach UCL final and advancing to their second successive final with a 4-3 aggregate victory. to decide if Liverpool or Tottenham will win
UEFA Champions League: Liverpool oust Barcelona after
Today's crunch game between Liverpool and Tottenham will arguably be the biggest game of this game week, and prior to the tie Jurgen Klopp took time to heap praise on Spurs' recent progress. Liverpool know that the club need to win to stay in touch with Man City in the Premier League title race
Official Spurs Website | Tottenham Hotspur
From the convenience of making a deposit from your mobile device to the comfort of a one-on-one discussion, we're proud to offer a wide array of quality personal banking products and services to help you reach your individual goals.
What Are the Biggest Threats and Priorities Facing the
Hugo Lloris got down low to keep out the substitute's poor kick and rescue a below-par Tottenham who had equalised in the 74th minute through Harry Kane's spot-kick. Arsenal, bidding to close the
Kane and Lloris Rescue Point for Tottenham Hotspur Against
Manchester City will have had an incredible season irrespective of their trophy haul according to Pep Guardiola, who described his players as "my heroes" after they booked a place in the FA Cup final.
Pep Guardiola hails derby heroes as Manchester City moved
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen