Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has urged the club to sack under-pressure manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following the Red Devils’ disaster on Tuesday.
Solskjaer has come under heavy scrutiny after several questionable decisions during United’s 2-1 loss to Young Boys in their Champions League opener.
Despite earning an early lead through Cristiano Ronaldo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first-half red card gave the Swiss champions a leg-up and ultimately swayed the encounter in the home side’s favour.
Forced to play a man light for almost half an hour, Solskjaer decided to drop his players deep and try to salvage at least a point, which eventually backfired on him.
BT pundit Scholes questioned some decisions made by the Red Devils chief of staff at the Stadion Wankdorf.
“It’s not a complete disaster – not ideal, obviously you’d like to go away and win,” the ex-midfielder said, as relayed by TEAMtalk.
“Jesse (Lingard) will be disappointed – it all stems from the sending off in the first half. United were quite comfortable up until that point.
“I do think United probably missed a trick, they couldn’t get out their half they were so deep.
“I think he should’ve brought more pace on earlier in Martial or [Mason] Greenwood, they didn’t do that and they’ve paid the ultimate price.”
Desperate to avoid defeat against sub-par opposition, Solskjaer subbed off headline performers Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes only a few moments after Young Boys’ equaliser.
Withdrawing his most prolific duo amid a stalemate was a clear indicator that the manager has no intention of winning the game but rather tries not to lose it.
Additionally, Solskjaer replaced attacking-minded midfielder Donny van de Beek with Raphael Varane at half-time, further confirming his defensive approach.
Anthony Martial joined the fray in the 89th minute, while United’s most in-form star Mason Greenwood spent the entire game on the bench.
Therefore, it’s hard to make a case for Solskjaer not planning to defend a slender lead despite boasting a far more intimidating roster.
Read: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer unhappy with the referee’s decision to send off Aaron Wan-Bissaka.