Maybe the reason why Fernandes has gone missing in our big games is because of Ole being so defensive?

Question

The sad thing is he is the one who receives the stick from other fans while nothing much is said about Ole.

Don't get me wrong Fernandes has been out of form recently but I have seen him come up with the goods despite not playing as well as he can.

Rashford has been out of form as well but nothing much is said about him either.

Ryan · Answer

He has to be defensive in big games because he can't trust his defence. If you push everyone back then the defenders have more support. And United are not a possession team like Man City so changing your approach for big games trying to pass it around and dominate the other team isn't going to work because they aren't used to it. Ole's approach isn't even that bad it clearly works in avoiding defeat most of the time so now they have to find a way to turn the draws into wins next season. That's his job and he should be studying these games trying to see what can be done different is there a player out there who he can sign to get the crucial goal in these kinds of games or is there any way he can tweak his formation or change his approach that will almost guarantee United will be secure at the back

? · Answer

That does make sense TBF, you can't always get the best out of our attacking players when we're being defensive.

I think Ole is aware that he may get more stick from the fans for losing the big games, especially given what happened against Spurs, so I guess his logic is 'better to draw than to lose'.

Fernandez is simply our best player and I agree, he can still do a thing or two when out of form, but I don't like us only relying on him for creativity, because once he has an off game, no one else can create and even if we do, don't expect someone like Rashford or Martial to finish, because they miss far too many easily chances, especially the former.

It may be fair to say that Ole has took us as far as we can go, so it may be time for an upgrade in managers, sometimes it can be what you need to overcome an obstacle, which in our case, are semi-finals - if he wins the EL then we I think it's fair from his side to justify keeping his job, but it not, we can't keep failing, especially if we do it at the expense of putting in a title challenge, because as I've said before, we need to balance out both.

Pochettino's gone now FFS, but who else is there ?

Maybe the reason why Fernandes has gone missing in our big games is because of Ole being so defensive?

2 Answers