MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists Paul Pogba’s apparent loss of form is not a cause for concern.
The France international was once again disappointing last night as United slumped to a 2-1 Premier League defeat to Wolves.
Scott McTominay’s first goal for the club put United in front at Molineux, but Diogo Jota levelled and United captain Ashley Young was sent off after being booked twice for fouls on the Wolves forward.
United had appeared in control despite Wolves having a man advantage and did not concede a single effort on David de Gea’s goal until a Joao Moutinho cross was turned into his own net by Chris Smalling.
After scoring nine goals in Solskjaer’s first 12 games in charge, Pogba has now failed to find the net in his last seven games for the Red Devils in all competitions.
When asked if he was concerned by Pogba’s struggles in front of goal, Solskjaer told a news conference: “He could easily have had an assist after some great play with Romelu [Lukaku]. That’s just numbers and figures.
“Paul is working as hard as any player in the team – some days it just doesn’t come off.”
Solskjaer did have praise for McTominay, whose maiden goal for the club came in his 41st appearance.
The Scotland international has not always been a favourite of United supporters in his fledgling career but Solskjaer thinks he has what it takes to carve out a long career at Old Trafford.
“He’s never let us down,” the Norwegian said. “It was another fine performance. It won’t be hard to see him play many games for United. He has a great mentality, he’s very athletic and can play in different positions.
“Today was his best position but he can play the defensive midfield role easily as well. We’re very pleased with him.”
Solskjaer, meanwhile, had no complaints over Young’s dismissal and believes the 33-year-old will regret diving in on Jota when he had already picked up a yellow card.
“When you are on a yellow before, you are always in danger if you go down, hit the ball first and follow through,” he added. “It’s a yellow card again.
“Probably a bad decision [by Young] but in the heat of the moment he thought he could reach the ball. It was just a little bit too high. I think Ash would like to have stayed on his feet.”
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Great advertisement for the LOI. How ex Shels RTE commentator could say Matty Smith should not have been sent off is beyond me. Shels lost their discipline at the end.
What a game. Incredible to watch on telly.
Brilliant game of football! Up the Saints!
Incredible match , brilliant atmosphere .I wonder why Pats were only given 500 tickets when there was room for another 500
May not be riveting football, but I’d rather it that way with lots of goals any day. Some incredible finishes, particularly the two Shels goals. They still have a healthy lead but sometimes pressure affects less-experienced sides more when it matters most. Rovers with the more favourable fixtures too, albeit they need a win next week to truly unsettle Duff’s men for the run in. Those sides fighting relegation like Drogheda can become banana skins too in the latter stages of any league.
Great entertainment. Couple of wonderful finishes, Keenas effort from inside his own half outrageous.
Mistakes to be sure but guys on 100000 a week make mistakes.
Thought Shels should have brought on the big lad up front sooner.
It’s like a bunch of drunks doing a 100 metre race. If you’re invested in a team it may seem exciting, but it’s been a very poor season, particularly for Shams with all the resources at their disposal. Even if they do win in the end, Bradders has been exposed as clueless.
@Ian Cunningham: you do talk some drivel Ian!
@Ellis Dewald: Shels have 54 points out of 96, Shams 49 out of 96. In any other league in the world these stats wouldn’t put a team within an asses roar of the title. Just because anyone can beat anyone on a given day doesn’t make it a great league.
@Ian Cunningham: Bayern Munich ran away with the bundesliga every year until last year, did that make it a great league?
@Bert Carolan: Personally I will say yes ;) although not the ideal regular winner I agree. If we had a bit more nerve, BVB should’ve snapped up two of them titles too.
@Ian Cunningham:
Drivel is right
Great advertisement for the league with ROVERS back in it
After shels made it two each, they needed composure, and Duff just throne a tantrum on the line and it seeped into the team, it was a great game, it’s amazing how open it still is, if Pats were to win all four games and get to 59, the other teams are showing no consistency to say they will, poor season but has the makings of a great finish.
Brilliant stuff. Best LOI game I can remember seeing and delighted the TV cameras were there. Now imagine what our league could be with some investment.
The bluffer should be made watch fools and horses
Sh€ls are falling apart again