“They don’t really have an identity”
Micah Richards has claimed that Manchester United “lack identity” under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and look like they are too focused on trying to keep individual talent happy.
United’s poor form continued after they fell to a 4-2 defeat against Leicester City on Saturday afternoon, in which they conceded two goals in 10 minutes to round off another disappointing display, which now sees the Red Devils drop out of the top four.
The performance has led to wide-spread criticism of Solskjaer’s game plan and Richards was one of those who launched a scathing assessment and feels that they don’t know how to get the best out of the talent at their disposal.
Speaking on Match of the Day, the former Manchester City defender said: “They don’t really have an identity.
“With the Man United of the past, you know they had wingers, getting strikers into the box, midfielders running into the box also.
“But now, it looks like they’re trying to keep everybody happy [in terms of] players. Individually, you’ve seen what they’ve got – [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Paul] Pogba, [Bruno] Fernandes, these players should be shining.
“It’s an array of talent, but they don’t know what they are doing with the talent.”
"They don't really have an identity."@MicahRichards says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to make some "harsh decisions".
Catch-up on #MOTD on @BBCiPlayer now 👇#bbcfootball
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 17, 2021
Meanwhile, Richards’ fellow co-host, Alan Shearer, also highlighted United’s failure to bring in a midfielder as a major downfall in their season so far.
Shearer said: ‘That was Man United’s problem last season, they didn’t invest in that position. It’s the same again [this season].
“There’s no-one in there to really press and take control from the front. You can’t do that in the Premier League.
“They will always score, Man United, because of the brilliance they have going forward. But you cannot press if you haven’t got that aggression.
“If you don’t know what to do, then you’ve got to sit back and be compact as a team. The team that I saw (on Saturday) didn’t know whether to go or whether to sit. When they did go, it was half-hearted and not as a team.”
Related links:
- Gary Neville describes Man Utd as “shoddy, scrappy and scruffy”
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to remain Man Utd manager despite run of poor results
- Gary Lineker pulls out of presenting MOTD due to ‘super cold’
