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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's plans for Manchester United were thrown off after the club signed Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, according to Paul Merson.
Manchester United decided to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday after a string of poor results. A 4-1 thrashing at Watford was the final nail in the coffin for the Norwegian.
This has been a horrible season so far for Manchester United and Solskjaer. After signing Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, they were touted as title challengers. But they sit eight, 12 points off leaders Chelsea.
Football expert and columnist Paul Merson believes Manchester United signing Ronaldo was one of the reasons for Solskjaer's ultimate sacking.
In his column, Merson talked about Solskjaer's plans based on last season. He wrote:
"I feel sorry for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He had a plan at the start of the season, having finished second last season. He's chased Jadon Sancho for a long time, got him in, and he's given Edinson Cavani another year. You could see his plan: you play Cavani every other game, you have Sancho on one side, Marcus Rashford on the other, you have Mason Greenwood coming in and swapping around, you have pace, power, energy, youth, skill, the lot."
Merson further discussed how Ronaldo has affected Manchester United's playstyle and other players this season. He wrote:
"Then, just before the season starts, he gets given Ronaldo. I think he's thrown it all out of the window. From day one, they're not a better team with Ronaldo in it."
Merson further added:
"You don't go 29 games unbeaten away without playing a certain way, and bringing Sancho in gave them another weapon to play that way. With Ronaldo up there, you don't have that weapon to play on the counter-attack any more. And Bruno Fernandes was their best player last season - he's hardly had a touch this season!"
Merson also stressed that Manchester United only signed Ronaldo as they thought he would be going to Manchester City. He wrote:
"It's all snowballed for Solskjaer. He had a plan, and the Ronaldo situation threw it all out of the window, just before the season started. They only went for him because they heard Man City were after him. It's not like United were calling Juventus to ask if he's available because Ronaldo is the missing link for United winning the Premier League. He isn't! They thought: 'We can't let him go to Man City - it's bad enough them finishing above us every year in the league anyway!"
Paul Merson believes Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't make Manchester United a team
Paul Merson talked about how Solskjaer and Manchester United are failing to play a proper system because of Ronaldo. He wrote:
"Solskjaer tried to drop him against Everton in early October - people say he rested him, but they had internationals the week after! He was hoping they'd beat Everton to justify him keeping the same team. That backfired, and all of a sudden, he had to go back to playing him every week."
He mentioned how counter-attacking football has left Manchester United this season:
"They chased Sancho for 18 months, they get him and he doesn't play a game. People are saying they didn't need Sancho, but he was perfect for the way they played counter-attacking football. Now they can't counter-attack, and the plan completely and utterly went out of the window."
He added:
"It's a problem going forward. The fans love Ronaldo, he's the king. Don't get me wrong, he's been one of the best players in the world, but this is the Achilles heel. The bloke is a legend, with the records he's put up, but that's not today."
Merson mentioned how Manchester United need to play as a team. He wrote:
"It's alright people saying: "He's done his job, he's scored goals." But United need to play as a team to win trophies, not have someone who stands up front and puts the ball in the net 20 times a season. They need a team. He's a legend. I'm not having a go at Ronaldo, and he'll go down as one the best to ever play football."
He further added:
"But I got shot down from day one on Transfer Deadline Day. I got slaughtered for saying they were further away from winning the league the moment they signed him than they were before. It's not Solskjaer's fault - Solskjaer didn't buy him!"
Merson ended by talking about how a free role could suit Ronaldo better:
"I think they need to find a position for him, and maybe even give him a free role. I don't know if you can keep him in the team, I don't think they're dominant enough in midfield, and without Raphael Varane in defence, they're all over the place."
Manchester United now take on Villareal in a key Champions League fixture on Tuesday. Michael Carrick will be in charge of this game and more until the board finds a new manager.
