"Manchester United need to bite the bullet now" - Former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor urges Red Devils to sack Solskjaer
Manchester United put up a lacklustre performance in their Premier League loss to Aston Villa at the weekend. Former Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor believes the Red Devils need to part ways with their manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Questioning Solskjaer's decision-making in the loss at Old Trafford, like playing with a limping Harry Maguire for ten minutes, Agbonlahor was quoted as saying:
“His (Solskjaer) decisions during the game, Maguire was limping for ten minutes before he brought him off. Big managers will take players off if they notice they’re not moving right. You need a goal in the last ten minutes of the game, and you bring on (Edinson) Cavani, who has not really played much football this season."
Goal for Aston Villa. 0-1.
#MUFC | #MUNAVL
Agbonlahor also criticised Solskjaer for not bringing on Jesse Lingard or Jadon Sancho, saying:
“You got (Jesse) Lingard there who just came on against West Ham and put it in the top corner, you've got Sancho who you bought for £70million. I just think some of his decisions, Solskjaer was miles off it."
Agbonlahor cited the example of how Chelsea got rid of a club legend (Frank Lampard) and brought in Thomas Tuchel, a move that has paid rich dividends. He wants United to tread the same route, and bring in a seasoned manager like Antonio Conte, saying:
“If I was Manchester United now… Chelsea did it with Lampard…They got rid of Lampard, which was hard as he’s a club legend, but they got rid of him, they brought in Tuchel and look what’s happened. Manchester United need to now take Ole out of it, give him a job in the board somewhere, bring in Conte, he’ll get better out of these players."
Agbonlahor wants Manchester United to ring in the managerial change immediately, as he feels the likes of Conte or Zinedine Zidane could bring more out of the players. He said in this regard:
“For me, Manchester United need to bite the bullet now. Bring in Conte, who is out there; Zinedine Zidane is out there; bring in a manager who will get better out of these players.”
Manchester United have suffered a setback in their pursuit of the Premier League title this season. The Red Devils were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday.
An 88th-minute effort from Kortney Hause put the visitors ahead. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men had the chance to equalise with a late penalty, but Bruno Fernandes blazed his effort wastefully from the spot.
Where does Manchester United rank in the Premier League table?
There were major changes in the Premier League table last weekend. Manchester United dropped from third to fourth in the table, with 13 points from six games. Chelsea fell from top spot to third following their 1-0 loss to Manchester City, allowing the defending champions to climb up to second spot.
PENALTY MISS Bruno Fernandes sends the spot-kick over the bar and Villa retain their lead!
Man Utd 0-1 Aston Villa (90+3 mins)
Elsewhere, Liverpool moved to the summit of the league summit after picking up a point in an entertaining 3-3 draw with Brentford. In other results, Arsenal continued their recent resurgence; they jumped to tenth position following their impressive 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby.