ClapIt’s safe to say that the last week has been pretty turbulent for Manchester United Football Club and, well, the majority of their fanbase. In the wake of their dramatic win over Atalanta in the Champions League, they came face to face with bitter rivals Liverpool in a grudge match for the ages at Old Trafford.
The majority of supporters would’ve known that Liverpool are far superior in terms of consistency on the pitch right now but on derby day, all of that falls away into irrelevancy. It becomes about what’s going to happen on the day itself and, in this particular instance, what happened on the day won’t be forgotten for many years to come.
In what was easily one of the most ruthless matches between these two juggernauts in years, Liverpool tore Manchester United apart with an efficient and almost scary performance – and they didn’t even really have to get out of first gear to do it.
It was a combination of precision from the Reds and fear from the Red Devils with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looking like a beaten man on the touchline. Within just 24 hours, it became clear that there was a chance the board could replace him in favour of bringing in someone new like Antonio Conte or Zinedine Zidane.
Instead, that hasn’t happened, with Sir Alex Ferguson somewhat stepping in and offering up his full support to Solskjaer for the next few games.
They’ve got Tottenham Hotspur to come at the weekend but after that, a baptism of fire awaits with Atalanta and Manchester City on the horizon.
Those are all games that United, on paper, should be able to do well in – but we all know the reality of their situation is a bit direr.
They’ve got an abundance of talent at their disposal but there’s just a clear disconnect between the man in charge and the squad, with reports suggesting they’re split down the middle about his future.
Yet even after all of the uncertainty and all of the drama, there’s a part of us that believes United are in with a shot of doing quite well in their next three games.
Tottenham aren’t what they once were and shouldn’t provide a whole lot of resistance under Nuno, which is why we’re backing United to secure all three points. Then, against Atalanta, we can picture a tight and nervy draw with United just about maintaining control of their own destiny in the Champions League.
The big one against Manchester City would seemingly be a foregone conclusion for many but we don’t actually see it that way. We think they’re going to nab a point because, if you look at the recent history of this derby, City actually don’t tend to get their way all too often.
Whatever the case may be this has now become a three-game stretch that will either make or break the managerial run of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. Will he be able to handle the pressure?
