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Acting guard Manchester United will have tough days and he will have learned a lot from the way his team failed to beat Sean Dyche's team.
A manager learns a lot more about his team in defeat than in victory.
A Victor Lindelof defender spared Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this indignity by saving the boss from his first loss as interim Manchester United goalkeeper – but that will not hide the worst performance of his provisional reign, so soon after his best. It was at Arsenal on Friday.
During the defeat, United became the first of the first six teams not to beat Burnley this season. And Burnley did what they always did. That is to say, sit back, resist and enjoy the precious opportunities on the other end.
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Sean Dyche knew how that would happen. And, no doubt, Solskjaer knew how that would happen too.
He deserves a lot of credit for trying to dislodge Burnley's background. If he could drag one or two of Burnley's defensive players out of position, gaps might well appear.
As such, he used Juan Mata behind a front two of Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford for parts of the first half. United's folded into a sort of 3-4-1-2 when building rear possession spells, with Nemanja Matic separating central defenders and side defenders pushing in the middle of the field .
Jose Mourinho discovered that good margins defined the Manchester United manager's work and that, if Rashford had managed to give him his best chance of the first half, the conversation could have been very different thereafter.
He was the outstanding United player under Solskjaer, but spent the night here. It's natural; he is young and not a machine. The secret of success will be finding ways to win games when the heat runs are over.
Solskjaer and United could not find him here, no matter how much they beat at Burnley's gate at the time of the playoffs. The temporary leader will have to badyze what's wrong, both in the goals grant and unable to ensure that all this possession counts at the other end.
The victories at Tottenham and Arsenal have shown that this team is playing better and creating opportunities on the break. Solskjaer often comes back to a time when United was tearing open teams on the counter; the offensive football promoted by Sir Alex Ferguson often came after the end of possession of the ball by the opposition.
Without a quick breakthrough, however, this United team will fight for convertible chances against reactive teams. In a sense, it's not so different from Mourinho's time.
The team however lacked the presence of Ander Herrera.
Often underestimated for the dynamism, tempo and aggressiveness he brings to the team, the Spaniard had his night of rest. Andreas Pereira is in his place.
He was one of those players that Mourinho had underutilized and he was the subject of many criticisms for not giving a chance to Brazilian-Belgian. Anyway, it was clear to Burnley that he was not quite ready for life at this level.
He gave the ball several times in the first half because of his tendency to choose a more difficult pbad when other options were open – this informality cost United the first goal.
Pereira's was the kind of individual mistake that made Mourinho mad every week on the sidelines of the United States. Solskjaer will not grill a player in the press as his predecessor did, but the mistake will have been noticed.
Mata did not really work as a right winger under Mourinho, so it made sense to call him infield in a match like this, but United works best when he goes fast and there was an allusion to the fact that the pbad to Mata could have been too much.
It is a methodical and voluntary operator, but a touch too slow in a team that tries to have fun. United's most fluid look was the chance created between Rashford and Lukaku, which the Englishman pushed away.
Jesse Lingard was missed, another player who did well for Solskjaer. The need for rotation is understandable given the magnitude of the matches in three impending competitions – and suddenly, United seems to be able to make a breakthrough in all three.
The decision to launch Alexis Sanchez has finally paid off, but he is better player in a counter-attack system than in a system that probes the edge of the surface. He won the head that brought the equalizer, which brings us to the elephant in the room.
Why does Manchester United get rid of Marouane Fellaini?
Their success in recovering from one point of this game does not come from complexity or intelligent attack schemes. It had just put the ball in the surface. He may be clumsy, but nobody does it better than the Belgian. United's loss is a win for an "unidentified Chinese Super League club"
Solskjaer has always been brilliant and engaged in media relations so far, but one area in which he might have been naïve is to badert his desire for United to win all competitions in which they participate.
Mauricio Pochettino has been criticized for managing Tottenham's expectations on the downside, but Solskjaer must certainly realize that this team is not good enough to win the Champions League, FA Cup and beat Chelsea and Arsenal to the fourth place in the championship.
It was not enough when Mourinho was in charge and it stays the same. Solskjaer brilliantly revitalized the team and refreshed the sensations around Old Trafford. When Lindelof scored, there was a crazy race to get the ball and score the winner. The Stretford End – what was left of it – has grown and demanded more.
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We saw this shattered during the days of Mourinho, especially when they recovered to beat Newcastle here earlier in the season. Again, it was about saving a situation and correcting mistakes made before. Not much has changed. United's players always make mistakes and the team remains committed enough to get out of trouble.
You may remember that it was in December 2017 the last time Burnley came to Old Trafford. That day, United was fighting for two to save a draw.
What can we say about his team? Not worse? Nothing better?
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