Solskjaer must take some responsibility for Fernandes and Rashford struggles

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Manchester United’s two most disappointing forwards this season have been Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes has just five goals, a poor comeback given he has scored three on Matchday 1 of the season, while Rashford has three, and none in his last 11 games. Worryingly, his form appears to be getting worse rather than better.

So what is the root cause of the problem? Each player’s situation has its whims, as Rashford potentially putting too much pressure on himself or still feeling the burden of his failed penalty kick for Euro 2012.

If you look at two defensive players who have also struggled a lot for form, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire, there is a common thread that goes back to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

(Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA / Getty Images) Overplayed by Ole

Ole’s favorites

Marcus Rashford

135 times selected

Harry maguire

121 times selected

Luke Shaw

118 times selected

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

115 times selected

Bruno Fernandes

97 times selected

Considering the amount of time Solskjaer had in charge, less than three full seasons, those are high numbers, and Bruno Fernandes has joined 13 months after the Norwegian took office.

Marcus Rashford has played more than any other Manchester United player under the former boss, so his struggles should come as no surprise.

Those 135 games Rashford played included a stretch where he missed two months of action before the lockdown in early 2020, or the numbers would be even higher.

After the lockdown, Solskjaer picked Rashford in almost every game, instead of relieving him after a serious back injury.

Last season, he suffered restless shoulder and foot injuries, and his late-season form suffered.

A particularly glaring selection came in United’s Europa League second leg against Real Sociedad last season, when the team were already leading 4-0 away, and Rashford and Fernandes were still selected.

Then against City earlier this season, Solskjaer called Rashford off the bench when he shouldn’t have played.

Fair play to Marcus Rashford for wanting to help the team. But he shouldn’t have played. Not trained since Wednesday, had sweats after the flight from Bergamo (not Covid), returned from training by the doc, felt weak Thursday / Friday, met the team this morning, got off the bench. #MUFC

– Henry Winter (@henrywinter) November 6, 2021 Now feeling the effects

Solskjaer’s lack of rotation finally came back to bite him. Players like Fernandes, Shaw and Maguire all saw their form drop in the first part of the season.

Whether the issues were mental or physical, or both, fatigue played a role, and there were other effects as well, with other players on the team frustrated at being overlooked.

Anthony Martial was frustrated at being overlooked for Rashford in the City game mentioned above, while Donny van de Beek and Jesse Lingard both suffered from Fernandes addiction.

The likes of Alex Telles, Diogo Dalot, Axel Tuanzebe and Eric Bailly have also been too often overlooked in favor of Solskjaer’s favorites, and this lopsided team selection has been widely reported to have caused problems within the team. team, resulting in loss of form and eventual demise.

(Photo by Matthew Peters / Manchester United via Getty Images)

There have also been mixed international matches, for players like Rashford and Fernandes taking their match numbers during that streak to even higher numbers.

Solskjaer may be gone, but United players are still feeling the aftermath. He went all-in with a smaller squad of players than he needed from a large pool, leaning too heavily on his home squad, and in Rashford’s case, that makes him wrong now.

Rashford played some of his best football under Solskjaer, scoring 55 goals under the Norwegian. But now he’s back to square one, going through the most difficult time of his career.

The nicest decision Ralf Rangnick can make is to give him rest and leave him out for a while so he can get back in shape, and he might not be the only player. to need a break.

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