Solskjaer back under pressure, set to shake up Manchester United

Manchester: Paul Pogba had seen enough. So had many disgruntled Manchester United fans.

We need to find something. We need to change something, an exasperated Pogba said after United's late collapse in a 4-2 loss at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn't disagree.

We need to look at the whole set-up and balance of the team, the United manager said, moments after Pogba's outburst. And maybe something has to give.

It's that time once again it seems to happen on two or three occasions per season when United appears on the verge of a crisis and Solskjaer, a club great without the managerial resume to go with it, is called out as someone unfit to be leading England's biggest team.

The plain statistics are that United have won two of its last 7 games in all competitions, have dropped to sixth place in the Premier League standings, and is already out of the English League Cup.

Meanwhile, the team only isn't in last place in its Champions League group because Cristiano Ronaldo scored a 95th-minute winner against Villarreal last month.

The season is young United has only played 11 games but key issues haven't been fixed: an imbalanced midfield, an attack relying on individualism over any coherent plan, sloppiness in defense.

There's also a schedule that sees United face its hardest run of games so far. Back-to-back games against Atalanta in the Champions League the first is on Wednesday at Old Trafford come on either side of Premier League games against Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City.

Solskjaer, who is approaching three years as United's manager and has yet to win a trophy, has been here before.

The last time he was under this much heat was in December, after a loss to Leipzig that eliminated United from the Champions League. Solskjaer's team didn't lose any of its next 13 games.

In the 2019-20 season, a 1-0 loss at Newcastle in early October extended United's winless run to five games and led to calls for Solskjaer to go. United drew 1-1 against Liverpool the next game, ending its fierce rival's eight-match winning run to open the league, and then lost only two of its next 14 games.

Solskjaer came under more pressure following a 2-0 loss at home to Burnley in late

January.