Manchester United 5-1 Cardiff City: 5 Ways Solskjaer masterminded the win

Manchester United travelled to Cardiff City Stadium to face Cardiff City on Saturday in a game that was significant for a lot of reasons. Jose Mourinho had finally departed after months of brooding and miserable football. Manchester United Legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been appointed as the caretaker manager until the end of the season and a lot depended on how this game would turn up.

Solskjaer made 4 changes to the last team selected by Jose Mourinho. He opted for De Gea in goal, with Young, Lindelof, Jones and Shaw in a back four. In the middle, he opted for experience and guile, reinstating Paul Pogba alongside Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic. Up ahead, he opted for Rashford to lead the line, with Lingard and Martial either side of him.

Manchester United started the game superbly when Rashford’s thunderbolt free-kick found the back of the net in the 3rd minute. It turned out to be a sign of things to come, as United were 3-1 up in the first half, thanks to goals from Herrera and Martial. Lingard scored a brace in the second half as United ended the game scoring 5 goals for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game in charge.

Solskjaer’s new look Manchester United was everything that fans had hoped for and while it is too early to make any predictions, it should be a sign of good things ahead. Against Cardiff, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made 5 influential changes to Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United to mastermind 3 valuable points and we discuss these changes here.

#5 Confidence in defence

Cardiff City v Manchester United - Premier League

The first change that looked evident after kick off was the amount of confidence in the players. Even though Cardiff did score a goal, it was from a penalty which was a little fortunate. Other than that, the defense looked sharp, composed and strong.

Victor Lindelof and Phil Jones had not started too many games together previously, but the two of them looked completely at home with each other. Jones was strong in his tackles and good with his positioning.

Lindelof stepped out well and showed great ability to read the game. Together, the two of them complemented each other’s qualities and Cardiff did not have too many chances in the entire game.

Solskjaer reinstated Luke Shaw in the team and the youngster was fabulous on the left hand side, both going forward and in the back. Herrera and Matic lent a helping hand whenever required and the nervousness of the defense under the previous management was not visible at all.

#4 Late runners from deep

One of the things that Solskjaer altered was the involvement of the whole team while going forward and one of the changes that caught the eye was the late runners from the deep. While Lingard, Rashford and Martial stretched the game, it left a lot of room open for runners from the deep to get into space.

Paul Pogba scuffed a few chances, but Herrera’s goal was the perfect example of what the new manager wanted. As the game concentrated on the left side, Pogba noticed the acres of space through the middle and spotted Herrera’s intelligent run. He immediately found the Spaniard with a cross-field ball, and Herrera responded by scoring, abet from a lucky deflection. However, he was not the only one who had been asked to be a little more ambitious.

Lindelof played a nice one two in the first half and almost got to the end of the final ball from Lingard. He was forward quite often in the second half as well, almost setting up Rashford on one occasion. Jones was quite adventurous too, going forward on quite a few occasions. This increase in numbers in the final third resembled a new style of play that was refreshing and effective

#3 Subtle changes in Midfield

Mourinho had often opted for steel in place of brains in midfield quite often, opting from players like Fellaini who hinder the free-flowing football. The Portuguese preferred to sacrifice fluidity in the middle in order to add security to his team.

When Solskjaer opted for Herrera, Matic and Pogba in the middle, it seemed like the Norwegian had added two defensive midfielders to cover for his French talisman, but the Baby Faced Assassin had other ideas.

Even though Herrera and Matic did have added defensive responsibilities, they did not sit back to soak in the pressure at all. Herrera, for once, had a lot of freedom in the pitch, and seemed to enjoy himself, as he was allowed to play his natural game.

He did not have to be in his mad dog mode, but the Spaniard was instrumental in keeping the Cardiff midfield quiet and was quite effective on the right side of the middle three, even scoring a goal. Matic did not have too much to do, but it one of his better days. But the night belonged to Paul Pogba, who looked happy, confident and pulled the strings for United.

#2 Relentless desire for goals

This season, United had scored more than 3 goals just once in the previous 17 games under Mourinho and there was a good reason for that. The Portuguese had always been results oriented, preferring to grind out 1-0 instead of going for the kill. One of the major changes seen under Solskjaer in his very first game was that United were not content even after scoring 4, as they raged on to try and get the 5th goal.

The intentions were clear early when Rashford sent a venomous free-kick into the net in the 3rd minute. From then on United kept pressing, kept trying, knocking on Cardiff’s goal and they were rewarded when Herrera scored in the 29th minute. When Martial made it 3-1 four minutes before halftime, one would have thought that United and Solskjaer would be content.

Yet, Manchester United came back from the blocks faster, stronger and hungrier and went on to increase their lead through Lingard. It was this display of insatiable hunger, this desire to score which came as a welcome surprise to the fans. This was what earned United 3 valuable points in a tricky tie and it was all due to a change in attitude enforced by Solskjaer.

#1 Fearless style of play

Perhaps the most important influence that Solskjaer had on Manchester United was making the team return to the brand of football fans grew up with, the football he had played as a player, where the Red Devils had no fear and played with freedom. Under Mourinho, United were static, compact and rigid.

It was a stark contrast to the way Manchester United have played over the years and perhaps that was why it never enticed the fans and footballers. With Solskjaer’s appointment, the good ol’ football was back and the full credit must go to the Norwegian.

There was great movement off the ball, the players looked positive and motivated. The passing play was excellent too and the stats at the end of the game were a refreshing change from before. United had 17 shots, 9 of which were on goal. They had 75% possession in an away game and attempted 639 passes, the highest in a game this season. They had 86% passing accuracy and it was a performance that deserved 5 goals.

While Cardiff City are not the toughest of opponents, it is a great beginning to a new reign. Hopefully, things will get even better as the season progresses.

Edited by Sripad