Manchester United 4-1 Bournemouth: 5 Tactics from Solskjaer that won the game

Manchester United had failed to win 3 consecutive games under Jose Mourinho this season. They had won two games on the trot only twice so far, a run which had ended with a draw against Wolves once and a defeat to Manchester City on the other occasion. It was one of the main reasons of United's dismal form; their inability to put together a good run of form had cost them dearly.

As such, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prepared for the visit of AFC Bournemouth in his third game in charge, he had a golden opportunity to boost the morale at Old Trafford, by making it three wins in a row. The Norwegian would have been desperate to end the year on a high and the team he set out for his second home game in charge clearly stated his intentions.

Solskjaer made 4 changes to the team that faced Huddlesfield. He brought in Young in place of Dalot and Bailly got his first start under his new manager, replacing Phil Jones. Lindelof and Shaw continued in their respective positions for the third game running, with De Gea in goal.

In the middle, Ander Herrera returned to partner Matic and Pogba, who had started every game under Solskjaer now. Ahead of them, the front three were Lingard, Rashford and Martial - who had been reinstated in place of Juan Mata. The trio had tormented the Cardiff defence a week ago and the Norwegian would have been expecting the same from the three again.

United started the game well, scoring as early as the 5th minute through Pogba. The Frenchman double the lead in the 33rd minute before Rashford almost sealed 3 points just before halftime. However, Bournemouth got one back through Ake before the break.

In the second half, Lukaku, replacing Rashford, scored United's 4th goal and took the game away from Bournemouth. Bailly's late red card did give United a cause for concern, however, the team saw the game through. As such, Solskjaer' dream run at Old Trafford continued and today we take a look at 5 strategies from the Norwegian that won United the game.

#5 Rashford and Martial as the wide forwards

Martial and Rashford were brilliant for Manchester United

Since taking over at Old Trafford, Solskjaer had to be content without his No. 9 as Romelu Lukaku continued to be on compassionate leave. This meant that the Norwegian had to use either of Rashford or Martial as the No. 9. Solskjaer did show a preference to start the English youngster through the middle, however against Bournemouth, he did something new.

Martial started from the left, while Rashford started from the right of the front three. Lingard worked as the false 9, working tirelessly, but having little impact. However both the wide strikers had a fantastic day out, continuously troubling the Bournemouth defense and taking up the space between the fullbacks and the central defenders.

To make matters worse, Rashford and Martial seamlessly switched positions and made light work of their markers. Their speed, movement and tenacity was one of the reasons that Bournemouth could hardly get a moment's relief and it ultimately led United to three points.

#4 Through Balls

Manchester United v AFC Bournemouth - Premier League

When a team has willing runners in front of the midfield, it requires people of great vision to track them to have an effective game. Thankfully for United, all three men in the middle were on song on the night.

Pogba, Matic and Herrera took turns to play the role of the provider, but every run on the night was tracked and the United midfield churned up one gorgeous ball after another to tear apart the Bournemouth defense. Matic, normally the one responsible to stop the opposition attacks, was brilliant, to say the least in this regard.

He sent a gem of a ball early in the first half to Martial, which cut the opposition into two, and almost made them pay. It was from his brilliant vision that United ultimately found the third goal.

Herrera, popping up everywhere on the field, had his moments too, sending in great through balls and also picking up an assist with a gorgeous cross for the second goal. Paul Pogba spent most of his time near the box, scoring goals, yet sent in numerous lobbed balls and through passes. It was this strategy applied by Solskjaer that killed off Bournemouth.

#3 Revolving Midfield

Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera were supposed to be the fail-safe for a marauding Paul Pogba under Solskjaer, however, the Norwegians strategy turned out to be entirely different. For the first two games, United's new boss rarely opted for two men to sit in front of the defense and against Bournemouth too, the same plan followed.

Matic started the game deepest of the three in the middle, however minutes later, it was Herrera who was slotting in between Lindelof and Bailly to play as the regista. Matic went forward more often than was normal for the Serbian and put up an impressive press higher up on the pitch. When he dropped back deep, he still managed to keep his eye out for the men in front of him, sending in delicious balls.

Herrera was the mad dog once again, snapping at everyone near the box and even picking up a yellow card to prevent a counter. Most of the opposition attacks fell short before Herrera, who also rescued De Gea on one occasion. The Spaniard was fluent in attack too and his combination with Matic was instrumental in United getting the 3 points.

#2 Rashford Unleashed

Marcus Rashford had been tipped to be the next big star at Old Trafford since he broke through from the youth ranks under Louis van Gaal. However, under the pessimistic guidance of Jose Mourinho, the youngster had gone backwards in recent times and had looked like a totally different player. He was low on confidence, had his game changed by the Portuguese and almost lost his ability to impact the games.

Solskjaer, like the perfect Manchester United manager, nurtured his young sensation back to full form and against Bournemouth, Rashford was unplayable at times. Some of the tricks and skills he unleashed on the poor defense was outrageous. He gave the game the perfect start, fooling Ake and Daniel and leaving them dead on their tracks in the 5th minute, and setting up the Pogba goal. He then got on the scoresheet right at the stroke of halftime, finishing well from a Martial cross.

The English youngster tormented the opposition and entertained the Old Trafford faithful right until the 70th minute, when he was replaced by Romelu Lukaku. By then, Rashford had ensured that United ended the night with all 3 points.

#1 An extremely attacking Paul Pogba

Gone are the days of restraint for Paul Pogba at Manchester United. Solskjaer had made it pretty clear that the Frenchman was his trump card and had used Pogba as the creative hub of the team in recent times.

It was worked wonderfully well for the Norwegian, as Pogba had been instrumental in getting United firing on all cylinders. Against Bournemouth, Solskjaer had the courage to done something even extreme, he pushed Pogba further up on the pitch and the Frenchman single-handedly sunk the Bournemouth ship.

He opened the scoring in the 5th minute, when he got to the end of Rashford's ball. He repeated the feat in the 33rd minute, getting his head to a gorgeous cross from Herrera.

On both occasions, Pogba was extremely high up on the pitch and was acting almost as a second striker. It was a strategy that worked wonders and Bournemouth had no answer to the Frenchman. Pogba also picked up an assist when he set up Lukaku to score the 4th goal of the game.

The Frenchman had continued his brilliant turn around under his new manager and had earned United all 3 points. And all credit for his revival must go to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has been equally brilliant.

Edited by Sripad