Defeat to Watford has pushed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to the brink at and the boos rang out from the away end following a 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Claudio Ranieri’s side.
Losing 5-0 to was galling, losing so convincingly at Old Trafford to was another but losing at Watford, who had not picked up a win since Ranieri took charge – until today – was something else.
United fan and writer Scott Patterson, of the website, gives an insight into the mood of the fanbase after this latest humiliation and why there is no way back for Solskjaer…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (middle) is hanging by a thread after Manchester United’s loss at Watford
Goalkeeper David de Gea labelled it as embarrassing for the richly-assembled side to lose 4-1
Watford had lost four of their last five games in the lead up to Saturday afternoon’s game against Manchester United.
The impressive 5-2 win over Everton, sandwiched between those poor results, looked to be a weird anomaly that was unlikely to be repeated.But then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side made the journey to Vicarage Road.
The first half made the United manager’s press conference of the day before more cringeworthy with every passing minute.
He had claimed that they had addressed the huge failings that had seen his team battered by rivals Liverpool and Manchester City before the international break.
‘We’ve corrected a few things, put a few things right,’ he claimed.’We’ve of course made sure we’ve prioritised a couple of things that needed to improve the most. I’m sure we’ll see a reaction and a good team performance tomorrow.’
If Watford were half decent, they’d have been four or five goals ahead after the first 45 minutes.
They calved United open time and again, with United players creating more opportunities for the opposition to score than for themselves.The humiliation was delayed thanks to Watford repeatedly falling at the final hurdle.
David de Gea saved Bruno Fernandes’ blushes, twice, when saving from the penalty spot after the Portuguese midfielder sliced the ball back towards goal, leading to the spot kick decision.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka could have let a stray ball go out of play for a goal kick but instead headed it back in to help set up Watford’s first goal, with United having escaped the deserved deficit before that point, despite their wayward passing and sloppy concession of possession in their own half.
The centre back pair of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof clearly felt like marking players in their box was unnecessary, with Josh King being presented with a free header and then there was no attempt to close down space when Ismaïla Sarr put his club 2-0 ahead.
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