Manchester United have shown they pay attention to criticism – Samuel Luckhurst

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Paul Scholes’ pessimism often hurts his expertise, but he struck a chord with some Manchester United supporters on Wednesday night.

Scholes looked genuinely uncertain whether United’s victory over Atalanta was worth celebrating. Scholes’ definition of celebration belongs to a dictionary from another era – Rio Ferdinand once joked in a post-match interview Scholes had already left the stadium after the two scored in a win over Liverpool . Scholes would not be far from a social media editor holding a smartphone, looking for a player to record a shallow post-match message on the pitch to fans.

One of the broadcasters described Atalanta’s victory as a “magical night”. Presenter Jake Humphrey pointed out the atmosphere at Old Trafford when he was seated in a studio a kick off from West Ham Stadium.

It was another comeback victory, United are famous for them and tens of thousands of spectators will have left Old Trafford, not regretting the automatic cup program for once. To the non-partisan crowd, it felt like a loophole sequel to Villarreal’s victory. Not so fortuitous but still problematic. “Papering” was among the top 20 trends on Twitter and the cracked badge could still appear on the back pages next week.

Scholes is not a cheerleader and took offense with Humphrey pointing out the “way” to victory. Atalanta, with his three full-backs and gung-ho style, is renowned for his smokescreen tactics, but was devoid of several key players and unsettled by Merih Demiral’s withdrawal at halftime.

Bruno Fernandes summed up United: impatient, erratic, wasteful, infuriating, uncontrolled but capable of brilliance. Sometimes it sticks to Fernandes and he paints a masterpiece. Sometimes it’s a mess. United’s performance ranged from a mess to masterful.

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United needed an emphatic performance and failed to produce one due to their own failures, which upset Scholes. it was not a significant victory and this week will be defined by the Liverpool game. The league is a team’s best gauge and United have lost two and drawn in their last three matches.

Losing to Liverpool and United will be seven points behind them. Chelsea, at the top, are entitled to Norwich on Saturday. United could follow them by eight points on Sunday. At this point, United’s championship challenge would effectively be over before it had even started.

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That’s what bothers Scholes. It is also miserable that Morrissey and United need objective pessimism to bring them back to reality. Not that they are entertaining it.

For a club that has embraced the power of the players, United has rightly become the millennium of football clubs. These are just good vibrations and they are sensitive to any criticism from a distance.

Atalanta’s result hasn’t changed what needs to change at United. It was not a declared victory but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, moved enough to applaud those who did not boo at half-time, was still so moved after the game that he put his foot in his mouth over Once.

Solskjaer thanks United fans at half-time

The club’s propensity to make cataclysmic decisions, whether it be the excessive and incongruous contract awarded to the manager or the hiring of a set-piece coach unable to stop the awarding of goals on a shot. standing still, reinforces the fact that the problems still overtake Solskjaer. United are also gearing up to replace Executive Vice President Ed Woodward and Richard Arnold, their potential replacement, has already sprung from the “phenomenal success” Solskjaer has brought to the club.

United fans watch Atalanta

The close scrutiny of backroom staff has not gone unnoticed. Mike Phelan, an assistant manager who does not do any basic training, consciously spent almost the entire midweek game in the technical zone after not entering it once at Leicester. Kieran McKenna, almost always in it, spent most of the evening there.

It remains to be seen whether MUTV will confront Andy Ritchie with this development. Ritchie was appalled that Solskjaer had been asked about the approach with his coaching staff at the midweek press conference and “wouldn’t have blamed him if he hadn’t answered that”. The club’s website presented the quotes as a positive story.

Turning ?

Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola dominate the technical field, elite coaches who have won top honors but are driven by the need to prove themselves every week. Solskjaer literally takes a back seat.

Sources in the dressing room said many players considered Solskjaer to be a “soft touch”. This millennial management is an essential quality for the modern coach and Solskjaer belatedly developed Luke Shaw into a world-class full-back while coaxing some of Paul Pogba’s best footballers. Thicker skinned players would always wish for a firmer command of the team.

So, you can imagine, Scholes would.

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