Home » Manchester United fans lash out on social media after Aston Villa flop

Manchester United fans lash out on social media after Aston Villa flop

by Scott Eckersley

Manchester United fans have taken to social media to vent their anger in the aftermath of yesterday’s disappointing – and deserved – 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.

From tactics to coaching through to personnel, they’ve found just cause to criticise pretty much every facet of the Reds’ dire performance.

However, despite the broad range of critiques, one topic that has come in for particular scrutiny is manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s perseverance with midfielders Scott McTominay and Fred.

The limits of the ‘McFred’ axis were ruthlessly exposed by Villa and fans didn’t hold back in showing their frustrations:

‘McTominay and Fred never take initiative in building up play. That’s their weakness. That’s exactly what Manchester United need. Someone like Fabinho.’

‘Villa deserve that. Totally on Ole and his McFred obssession. You can’t keep grinding out results with players who aren’t good enough.’

‘We bought £75m Sancho to provide width and he starts Pogba at left wing. Our McFred midfield can’t control the tempo. He completed 16 passes in the whole game.’

‘Up since 5.30am on a Sunday morning wondering why Ole is obsessed with McFred midfield, especially against teams like Aston Villa at home.’

‘Why play an auxiliary left midfielder in Pogba against a team playing 3-5-2 when you should be stretching them?’

‘Ole will lose his job over the stubborn use of McFred but it will be too late as elite players will want to move on. Bad coaching, lack of tactics – just look at his Cardiff stint. Ole is good at ruining careers.’

‘Ole moved Sancho to the bench, plays Pogba on the left wing just to accommodate McFred in the midfield. No manager in this world would do this bs.’

It could be argued that there is no balance to be found with any combination of midfielders at Solskjaer’s disposal and that he’s on a hiding to nothing.

However, it should also be noted that a huge swath of the United fan base had already marked the midfield as our biggest weakness before a ball had been kicked in anger.

And there’s a very real possibility that the problem position could undermine progress being made throughout the rest of the side. It might even pose the single biggest threat to the Norwegian’s long-term prospects at the club.

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