An awakening call to summer signing; Manchester blip was a blessing in disguise

Manchester United have succumbed twice in less than a month in the hands of wolves, once in the FA Cup where they bundled them out of the cup and in the Premier league denying them a chance to get to the first three.

Probably that could be an awakening call to the club to investing in more experienced players in a club that has been a giant to reckon with.

Celebrating in the Parisian rain having just watched his patched-up Manchester United team complete Mission Impossible, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must have felt invincible.

At the time the Norwegian’s record as United’s interim manager read: 14 wins, two draws and one loss that was ultimately rendered irrelevant on that magical night inside the Parc des Princes.

Fast-forward nearly a month and United’s win percentage under Solskjaer has dropped from 82 to 71 following a run of three defeats in four games.

United were perhaps unlucky to lose against Arsenal four days after the thriller in Paris but by the same measure they were fortunate to collect all three points against Watford this weekend just gone. Both defeats at Molineux, meanwhile, were fully deserved.

In the FA Cup quarter-final against Wolves last month United didn’t get out of the starting blocks and in the Premier League on Tuesday night the Reds never rediscovered their early rhythm after Fred’s costly mistake.

Solskjaer is not blameless for United’s slump, but nor is he to blame for the club’s poor recruitment policy for the best part of a decade.

There is never a good time for a club to lose football matches, but had United’s supreme winter form under Solskjaer continued all the way through until the end of the season, the temptation from Old Trafford’s high-ups might have been to spend sparingly in the summer.

This blip was going to happen sooner or later and United fans may look back in a few months time with gratitude that it is happening now and not at the start of the new season.

The recent run of results should serve as a reality check to Ed Woodward that United’s playing staff is in dire need of investment. The minimum requirements? A centre-back, a central midfielder, a right-winger and a couple of full-backs.

Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have spells of good form in them but neither man holds a candle to the league’s premium centre-back, the Dutchman Virgil van Dijk, who is Liverpool’s captain without the armband.

In Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba, United looked to have settled on a midfield trio up until the injury-fest against Liverpool, but Herrera and Matic both have their limitations and Pogba has the unique ability of being able to turn his form on and off like a switch.

United haven’t had a decent right winger since Nani and Antonio Valencia were in their prime in the early 2010s, and at full-back Ashley Young is a stop-gap, Antonio Valencia is effectively finished at the club and Matteo Darmian is likely to be Italy-bound this summer.

Clearing the significant amount of dead wood in this squad should free up funds in the transfer kitty as well as space on the wage bill.

Valencia is leaving, Darmian will almost certainly join him and Marcos Rojo and Alexis Sanchez should follow them both out of the door should United strike gold and find a club willing to take the highly paid Chilean off their hands.

Perennial good guy Juan Mata’s contract is up in the summer and United should let him leave for free, with Barcelona believed to be among the Spaniard’s suitors and his impact diminishing with each rare start he is granted.

There is potential in Eric Bailly and Fred, and they might treat the remainder of this season as an audition to save their United careers. Both men will likely remain into next campaign but that shouldn’t be a given at a club of United’s stature so disappointing have they been this term.

It’s time for United to start acting like the biggest club in the world and stop accepting mediocrity.

This squad needs gutting and Solskjaer, regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, must be given the power to wield the axe.

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