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#3 Premier League rivals strengthening their squad
Manchester United's Premier League title rivals Chelsea are expected to complete a club-record transfer to bring Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in the coming days.
Their German manager Thomas Tuchel left his imprint on the team last season, despite not having the chance to have a full season with them. Now he has an entire pre-season under his belt and a proven goal-getter like Lukaku will soon be at his disposal. Tuchel will therefore aim to take his Champions League winning squad to the next level.
Manchester United's local rivals Manchester City, on the other hand, are looking to dive in for Tottenham star Harry Kane after getting their hands on Jack Grealish. They dominated the league last term and once they have scorers such as Kane in their ranks they could be unstoppable.
Additionally, 2019-20 Premier League champions Liverpool are set to welcome the influential Virgil van Dijk back from injury. The Reds have further strengthened their defense with the addition of Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig.
In a bid to shake off the disappointment of a campaign marred by injuries last term, Liverpool have been working hard in pre-season and look set to bounce back.
As such, all of Manchester United's fiercest rivals for the Premier League title can more than claim their right to be contenders next season. That leaves the Red Devils with very little margin for error.
#2 Inconsistent form and slow starts
The 2019-20 season was Solskjaer's first full season as Manchester United manager. The Red Devils didn't manage to get off to a flying start, winning three, losing three and drawing four of their opening 10 games of the Premier League season.
The eventual champions Liverpool, on the other hand, won nine of their first ten, thus developing a 14-point gap at the top.
The gap was always going to be tough to bridge. Despite Manchester United showing sparks of form post the pandemic break, they finished 33 points behind the Premier League champions.
Fast forward to last season, Manchester United were the victims of three defeats in their first ten matches. Though at that stage they were going neck to neck with the eventual champions Manchester City, the Citizens ended January with a 100 per cent win record to steer ahead.
Manchester United, on the other hand, lost two matches, one against Manchester City and the other against a lowly Sheffield United. That pushed them further behind in the race for the Premier League title.
Given their recent record in the Premier League, there are fears of a repeat yet again, despite a bright pre-season for Manchester United.
If the Red Devils end up starting as slow and inconsistent, their rivals could open up a significant and unassailable gap in the race for the Premier League.
#1 Pressure on Solskjaer to emulate SAF at Manchester United
Every time Solskjaer's team take to the pitch, comparisons are made between him and his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson. When Manchester United win, fans insist that the Norwegian has inherited his managerial skills from his boss. When they lose, the blame is put on the 48-year-old's inability to learn from his predecessor.
This results in Solskjaer's inability to experiment with his formation, forcing him to stick to the old 4-2-3-1. Managers such as Pep Guardiola, because of the aura around them, get away with the failure of their formations (the false 9 approach failed miserably in the Champions League final). But Solskjaer has to fear the backlash it could draw if his approach fails.
And that could prove to be crucial in the longer run. Other formations have to be tried out if one fails and the former Molde boss is afraid of doing that
With the arrival of Jadon Sancho, Solskjaer is finally planning to tweak the formation with a three-man attack. It remains to be seen if he is open to the idea of further flexibility whenever the situation deems it necessary.
If the Norwegian opts to play too safely, it could prove to be detrimental to Manchester United's Premier League title hopes next season.
