Manchester United vs LASK: What we learnt about the Red Devils

The Europa League returned to action this Tuesday and Manchester United played their second leg of the round of 16 at Old Trafford last evening, almost 5 months apart after they trounced LASK in Austria 5-0 in March earlier this year.

Although this second leg was more of a formality for Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, their manager, fielded a relatively strong team to get the job done and help secure their place in the quarter-finals taking place in Cologne, Germany from August 10, 2020 onwards.

United only had their club captain, Harry Maguire and youth academy product, Brandon Williams who signed a new contract with the club till 2024, starting this game from the team that beat Leicester on the final day of the Premier League, which secured 3rd spot and a spot in next year's UEFA Champions League.

Even though Manchester United did win the game 2-1, they looked far from their best. Their ball retention was poor, they lacked incisiveness in the final third, a problem they had for majority of the season prior to the arrival of Bruno Fernandes, and just lacked any sort of creativity.

This game highlighted exactly why Manchester United fans and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have mentioned the need for a few players to make this squad better and to be able to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City next season.

Solskjaer's goalkeeper headache

Sergio Romero is definitely one of the best second-choice goalkeepers in world football and he put in a pretty solid performance once again but failed to keep a clean sheet for the first time at home this season in UEFA's second most prestigious competition as United conceded their first goal in this Europa League campaign at Old Trafford.

David de Gea has had a second consecutive season where he has looked far from his best making some schoolboy errors that have cost United points this season and Dean Henderson, who was on loan at Sheffield United, is tipped to become England's number 1 goalkeeper. This spells trouble for Spain's #1 as he has a huge fight for his spot next season.

If Dean Henderson does get the nod ahead of de Gea, another question that does remain is if Romero will still remain faithful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the Argentinian has been waiting to be called on between the sticks whenever need be.

Romero's record has been really impressive for United with 38 clean sheets in 60 games, so he would definitely feel hard done by if not given a chance to fight for United's #1 spot.

Eric Bailly should be Harry Maguire's defensive partner

Eric Bailly was one of the few standout players in this second leg against LASK. He is comfortable with the ball at his feet and very quick. He is strong and powerful in the air. In short, he has all the qualities to be a top centre-back.

There is a sort of calming influence with the Ivorian on the pitch. He is not afraid to put his body on the line to block shots and also goes in for tackles if the need arises. Sometimes he can be reckless but he is still young and can only get better.

The major drawback however is that he is injury-prone and that has been a major reason, Solskjaer has preferred Sweden's Victor Lindelof as his first choice centre-back along side England's Harry Maguire.

Tim Fosu-Mensah and Brandon Williams solid defensively but need wings

Manchester United started with full backs from their academy in Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Brandon Williams. Both of these players seem to have cemented their spots in United's first team, as second choice full backs behind Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw, respectively.

They are both well drilled and strong defensively but they lack the tools on the offensive end. They seem to be a bit lost on the ball and are indecisive in the attacking third. Once both of these youngsters add this element to their game, they could really compete for a starting spot in a year or two.

Diogo Dalot is most likely on his way out

Diogo Dalot has really fallen down the pecking order at Manchester United. Dalot was a regular feature in United's cup games but questions have been raised on whether he is now on his way out as Fosu-Mensah clearly seems to be Solskjaer's favoured full-back to come off the bench.

Dalot, however, did not train all week as he has seemingly picked up an injury, but this could be the last we see of the Portuguese at Old Trafford.

Fred and McTominay are more than handy squad players

Fred and Scott McTominay had really good seasons for Manchester United and were integral to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Premier League surge before the lockdown.

Although McTominay had an extremely poor game against LASK, one of the few he has had in his short career with the club so far, he is a hard worker and knows what it means to be a Manchester United player having come up from the academy.

He can learn from Nemanja Matic and eventually take up that central defensive midfielder role that Michael Carrick played in for Sir Alex Ferguson's highly successful Manchester United team for several years. With Carrick as assistant coach at the club, the Scot can really benefit from his expertise and become a major player for the club for years to come.

Fred, on the other hand, was brilliant as he has been for a lot of this season. He is quick to release passes forward and does a great job of shielding the defense. The Brazilian seems reliable when called upon and is a value addition to the club.

Juan Mata is a winner

Juan Mata, my man of the match, was back to his best against LASK. He was terrific and the stats back that up. He had the most attempted final-third passes (26) and the most completed final-third passes too with 18. He attempted the most take-ons (7) and had the most successful ones to as he beat his opponent on 5 occasions.

He created the most chances among all players (4), won the most fouls (3) and assisted both of United's goals.

Mata is still one of Manchester United's best free-kick takers and corner-kick specialists. Manchester United will want Juan Mata at his best as they will look to make a deep run in the UEFA Champions League next season.

Daniel James needs to learn a lot

Daniel James had a dream start to his Manchester United career but he has faded completely. He had yet another dismal showing against a team that he really could have put to the sword with his pace. Daniel James was found in space on multiple occasions but could just not find the final pass.

Odion Ighalo and Jesse Lingard made terrific runs into the box and the Welshman failed to pick them out every single time. James needs to improve his attacking prowess and crossing ability, but given that it was just his first season with the club and moving up from the Championship to the Premier League is no small feat, expect him to silence his critics next season.

The Curious Case of Jesse Lingard

Manchester United fans have a love-hate relationship with Jesse Lingard. He was terrible over the past year with pretty much zero output but with the news recently coming out that he was having personal problems that affected his game, one would like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

After all, he is human too. A lot of things can be said about Lingard but one must not forget that he was a regular member of England's World Cup squad that made the semi-finals back in 2018 in Russia. He has a knack of scoring goals and his attitude on the pitch is superb.

Lingard is a Manchester United product so he knows what it means to play for the club and gives his 100% on this pitch. To be fair to him, he had a terrific game against LASK and has now notched up 2 goals in 2 games, scoring against Leicester in the last Premier League game of the season before this.

If he can keep this up in the quarter-final of the Europa League (and beyond if United qualify), Lingard could keep his place in Solskjaer's squad.

Andreas Pereira and Tahith Chong - Promising Manchester United prospects

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made it clear that he wants those players at Manchester United who want to play for the club and are not motivated by money. That has been clear from the promotion of youth. Two of these players are Andreas Pereira and Tahith Chong.

Pereira and Chong were terrific off the bench last evening. Barring this game however, United fans have been frustrated with his play and output.

He has an uncanny ability of scoring blinders and performs admirably in games that do not count for anything, example, preseason games and dead rubbers like this LASK game, but when it comes to slightly competitive games or where the team really needs some inspiration off the bench, Pereira has more often than not, done nothing.

However, he was very skillful on the ball last evening and looked threatening. Pereira was linking up brilliantly with Tahith Chong and they looked like a pair that have been playing football together for many years.

Chong showed that he is a true talent. He was brought on at left-back but he did not seem phased by it. He was just playing his natural game and injected a lot of pace into the United squad. United's young talent is truly promising.

Odion Ighalo - The Underrated Striker

Odion Ighalo is a steal for Manchester United. They seem to have found their talisman in Anthony Martial so it is good to have a proven goalscorer in Ighalo coming off the bench. The Nigerian is quick, strong and controls the ball beautifully.

Solskjaer could do without a striker for the upcoming campaign if Martial can continue his scoring run as he did this season and the Frenchman is showing all signs that he can as he notched up the winning goal within 10 minutes of coming on against LASK last evening.

Manchester United need another creative midfielder and right winger

Manchester United's second leg against LASK highlighted one more major factor and this is no surprise for anyone. The team definitely needs a little revamping and they need some real quality in midfield.

United's first XI is as good as any team but their bench is thin as we saw last evening. Manchester United seem to be on the verge of signing Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund and he would be the perfect signing for the Red Devils as right wing is the one position they have struggled to fill all season. Having Mason Greenwood play there seems to be a waste of his talent that can be utilized up front.

Another position that Manchester United need to strengthen is the number 10 position. United do not have a back-up option for Bruno Fernandes. Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata have slotted into those roles but they are nowhere close to the level of the Portuguese.

Jack Grealish would be a great addition to this Manchester United squad and he would be a threat coming off the bench. Solskjaer seems to be interested in bringing in Aston Villa's captain but is now focused on landing Sancho.

Manchester United are still looking to bring in a centre-back as well given the unreliability of Eric Bailly's fitness and questionable performances from Harry Maguire as well as Victor Lindelof.

Gabriel Magalhaes, the Lille defender, was tipped to join the Red Devils but Arsenal seem to now be in pole position for the young Brazilian.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also mentioned that he is looking to keep Chris Smalling after the Englishman finished his loan spell with AS Roma. Solskjaer also gave another youth academy player a few minutes as he brought on Teden Mengi who made his debut with the first team.

Manchester United may have finished 3rd in the Premier League this season but they finished 33 points behind the Champions, Liverpool. There is a lot of work to be done for United to challenge for the title next season and it is only going to get harder given that they will be featuring in Europe's premier competition too.

The English giants definitely need to bring in some quality into the squad and now is the time for them to do so. Ole has a project in place and things seem to be going well for them. It is now time for Ed Woodward and the Glazers to trust and support the Norwegian in the transfer market as his signings have so far produced immediate results.