There is one player in particular that Manchester United fans have reacted to after tonight’s home defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espírito Santo has managed to lift visiting Nottingham Forest up to actually fight for qualification for the Champions League, while Ruben Amorim, who had huge success with Sporting, has not been able to make a hockey stick effect after his arrival almost a month ago.
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Manchester United suffered their sixth Premier League defeat of the season when Ruben Amorim’s side succumbed to Nuno Espirito Santos Forest on Saturday, losing 3-2.
The visitors took an early lead through Nikola Milenkovic, who headed in a corner kick. But the Red Devils evened things out through Rasmus Hojlund.
In the second half, the hosts imploded and conceded two goals in the space of seven minutes.
Morgan Gibbs-White put Forest back in the lead before Chris Wood’s header found the back of the net to make it 3-1. Captain Bruno Fernandes reduced the deficit just after the hour.
Man United fans on social media made their emotions clear when they slammed Lisandro Martinez’s performance after the role he played in two of Forest’s goals.
The Argentine defender was unable to keep Milenkovic away from the set-piece and bizarrely allowed the ball to go past him after Woods’ header sailed over Andre Onana.
“Martinez has to go. He’s so bad.”
“Can’t believe Lisandro Martinez used to be compared to the likes of VVD and Saliba.”
“I now see the inadequacy of Lisandro Martinez in the corners.”
“Yes, Lisandro Martinez, you were a good guy. It’s time to go.”
“Lisandro Martinez proves once again why he’s the worst defender when it comes to aerial coverage.”
Martinez was signed by Erik ten Hag in a transfer worth £57 million.
He has made 77 appearances across all competitions since joining in the Old Trafford outfit in the summer of 2022.
But his recent performances have left much to be desired as Man United supporters lament his latest outburst for the club.
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Man United remain 13th in the table and resume their league campaign next Sunday when they face Manchester City.
Time to call Ole Gunnar Solkjær who got very good results even though he had the Manchester United board against him:
Some examples: In the summer of 2020, he wanted Grealish, Bellingham, Sancho and Upamecano. Instead, he got Donny, then a bunch of players like Cavani and Pellistri on deadline day.
In January 2021, he asked for Moises Caicedo (£4.5 million), but the board said no.
In January 2020, he was desperate to sign Haaland. Back in December 2019, it looked like a done deal, with Ole smiling at press conferences when talking about Haaland. Instead, Manchester United got Ighalo on loan, reportedly due to agent fees.
Other names Ole pushed for include Ake (summer 2020), Harry Kane (summer 20/21) and Declan Rice (summer 2021).
However, in a recent interview, Ole admitted that he wanted these players, but was told that Manchester United did not have the budget for Rice/Kane.
Ole also wanted De Ligt, but instead got Maguire (but he was happy with that replacement) and pushed for the signing of Jovetic, who ended up at City.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer delivered a 2nd and 3rd place in the Premier League, while this year’s version is down to 13th place with only 19 points after 15 games. Liverpool leads by 35 points without being able to play today’s game due to a storm. Solskjaer understood the player profile like no other Manchester United manager since Sir Alex and was passionate about how he could help them do better.
Here are a few examples of smart choices with the players he had:
- Bruno Fernandes at CAM (almost SS)
- Move Martial to false 9
- Putting Rashford back to LW
- Playing Pogba as a fake LW (making it a box midfield, which is popular in football these days)
– Playing Lukaku on RW (split wide) in big games
This was one of Ole’s greatest strengths as a football manager and one of the reasons why Manchester United played their best and most consistent football since Sir Alex under Ole.
Most of all, Ole is so loyal that even an assistant role brought him back to Old Trafford.
