DANNY MURPHY: If Manchester United want to get better, it’s simple… they need a new manager

It was early in the second half, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stood on the touchline in the rain, when the chant first rose from the corner of Old Trafford where the Manchester City fans were ranged. ‘Ole, Ole, give us a wave,’ sang the City supporters, as if the United boss was their friend and their ally in their attempt to retain their Premier League title.

Whenever there was a break in play, they returned to the same theme. ‘Ole’s at the wheel,’ they yelled over and over again, hijacking a chant that was once a favourite refrain of United supporters so desperate for their old goalscoring hero to succeed as their manager. When he refused to acknowledge them, they laughed and booed in pantomime fashion.

It has got to the stage now, sadly, where opposing fans see Solskjaer as their secret weapon. They want him to stay more than United supporters. The chants felt cruel, as the chants of opposing fans often do. It also felt as if they signalled a tipping point in Solskjaer’s reign at the club. Late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo against Atalanta are just camouflage.

Manchester United have to sack manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in order to make progress

This game was seen by some as Solskjaer’s last chance to reassert his authority at United and salvage his job as the pressure builds upon him but it only served to emphasise the yawning chasm that exists between these two teams.

Yes, the gap between them was only three points before the match but the performances told a different story. City are in a different league from this United side. City may only have won 2-0 but the gulf in class was embarrassing.

City were not at their best but they were still utterly dominant. If it had not been for a brilliant display by David de Gea, City’s margin of victory would have been far greater. United will not win the title this season. That much is crystal clear but the question remains whether the United hierarchy have the appetite or the ambition to do anything about it.

Manchester City are in a different league from United - the gulf in class was embarrassing

Manchester City are in a different league from United – the gulf in class was embarrassing

Solskjaer has done a fine job rebuilding United after the damage and division inflicted on them by Jose Mourinho but it has been evident this season — particularly after United’s outgoing executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward chose to sign Ronaldo rather than the central defensive midfield player who might have given United a chance of challenging — that Solskjaer has taken this team as far as he can.

United went for clicks, not trophies. They went for shirt sales, not trophies. They went for social media engagement, not trophies. And now, as many predicted, Solskjaer is paying the price for their warped priorities. Ronaldo is a magnificent player but he is 36 and against the best teams he is reduced to an island of impotence.

City's stars, including Phil Foden, caused numerous problems for United at Old Trafford

City’s stars, including Phil Foden, caused numerous problems for United at Old Trafford

When the final whistle went, boos rang around Old Trafford. If Daniel Levy were in charge here, that would be enough to prompt a change of manager but Solskjaer’s salvation may lie in the fact that United have dithered for so long over his position that Tottenham have stolen away Antonio Conte, who was, by a distance, the best available replacement.

City treated United with barely disguised contempt. Not that they were unprofessional in any way. Just that they were too good. Way too good. Phil Foden was elusive and assured on the left, Joao Cancelo ran riot on the same flank, Bernardo Silva’s industry was exhausting just to watch, and Ilkay Gundogan was the creative fulcrum. Jack Grealish only made the bench. City will be joined in a battle for the title with Chelsea and Liverpool.

The height of United’s ambitions, at the moment, will be finishing fourth and if Conte makes a difference in north London, Arsenal keep improving and West Ham maintain their challenge, that might be in jeopardy, too. But maybe United will beat Watford in their first game after the international break and some will say the pendulum has swung again.

City dominated possession early on, of course, but United forged the first half-chance when Harry Maguire headed wide from a Luke Shaw free-kick. City continued with the patient, probing build-up and nearly scored when Kyle Walker drove in a vicious, curling cross to the back post that Silva stretched for but could only direct back across goal.

United, though, failed to clear the danger and the ball found its way to Cancelo on the City left. He bent in a cross to the near post, Eric Bailly made a lunging attempt to try to clear it but could only slice it past De Gea into his own net.

Opposition fans see Solskjaer as their secret weapon - they want him to stay more than United supporters

Opposition fans see Solskjaer as their secret weapon – they want him to stay more than United supporters

City quickly settled into an ominously smooth rhythm. They played the ball around United’s half-hearted attempts at a press with contemptuous ease, toying with their opposition, drawing them in and then stretching them out of shape with brilliant passing. United, in contrast, gave the ball away time after time. The home fans yelled out their frustrations.

It was hard to blame them. Midway through the half, De Gea stood over a goal-kick with defenders waiting either side of him, ready to try to play the ball out of defence. The United fans in the Stretford End jeered and roared and urged De Gea to kick the ball long. The defenders obeyed and ran upfield. De Gea kicked long and City regained possession immediately.

United’s impotence in that period of the game was embarrassing. So many of City’s players look comfortable on the ball. So many of United’s treat it as an object they distrust. City were playing as if on a different level. But while there was only one goal in it and while United had Ronaldo in attack, hope flickered for the home support.

Sure enough, when the ball was worked wide to Shaw, his cross found Ronaldo on the edge of the box and Ederson had to fling himself to his left to beat away a volley. Ronaldo was bidding to be the oldest scorer in a Manchester derby, surpassing Paul Scholes who was 35 when he scored against City at the Etihad in 2010. That is one record that will have to wait.

It was a rare incursion from United. They were besieged in their own home. City really set about them now. Foden burst free down the left and cut a precise ball back into the path of Kevin De Bruyne.

De Bruyne tried to sidefoot his shot through the crowd but it was blocked by Shaw. When it fell straight to Gabriel Jesus, it seemed he must score but De Gea pulled off an astounding save to deflect his fierce shot over the bar.

Were it not for the efforts of David de Gea, United would have suffered a very heavy defeat

Were it not for the efforts of David de Gea, United would have suffered a very heavy defeat

City became relentless. De Gea pushed a rising drive from Cancelo over the bar and then produced a brilliant reaction save with his right foot when Victor Lindelof deflected Foden’s cross towards his own goal. De Gea became a human wall. He pushed a goalbound shot from De Bruyne wide of the post and then blocked another piledriver from Cancelo. Without him in such fine form, United could quite easily have been 4-0 down at half-time, as they were against Liverpool.

On the stroke of half-time, when it seemed United might have escaped the first 45 minutes with only a one-goal deficit, their defence pressed the self-destruct button again. Cancelo dinked a difficult ball into the area but Maguire and Shaw watched it drift past them and allowed Silva to ghost on to it at the back post.

Silva stuck out his left leg and prodded it towards the goal. De Gea was on his post but he seemed to be taken by surprise and flapped at the ball, only succeeding in pushing it into the side-netting. The ground was silent for a moment, not realising what had happened.

In the press box, Peter Schmeichel, the former Manchester United great, was apoplectic. ‘De Gea couldn’t do anything initially,’ he said on radio, ‘but my god, what are Maguire and Shaw doing on the back post?’ City’s fans started to enjoy themselves. ‘Ole’s at the wheel,’ they sang over and over again. They took up the same theme at the start of the second half. ‘Ole, Ole, give us a wave,’ they sang.

Solskjaer brought on Jadon Sancho in place of Eric Bailly at half-time but it made little difference. United fans have, commendably, refused to turn on Solskjaer but cracks in that support are appearing. When Donny van de Beek, who has been marginalised by the United boss, started to warm up, he was given a rousing ovation.

United toiled as best they could to reduce the arrears but they barely fashioned a move of any cogency in the second half. Foden missed two more chances but it did not matter. ‘Ole’s at the wheel,’ the City fans sang as the clock ticked down. ‘Ole’s at the wheel.’

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