/Why Arsenal & Wolves defeats shouldn’t shock Man United fans

Why Arsenal & Wolves defeats shouldn’t shock Man United fans

Man United’s poor form

Did Manchester United make a mistake appointing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a three-year deal during the international break?

Fears about Solskjaer’s tenure have started to bubble up in recent weeks.

Looking at the big picture, Man United have 14 wins in 20 matches in all competitions since Solskjaer moved into the dugout.

However, as the Red Devils prepare for Barcelona in the Champions League, their form has tanked.

United have lost three of their last four matches.

Arsenal & Wolves

Wolves beat Man United 2-1 in the Premier League last night.

Previously Wolves had beaten Man United 2-1 in their FA Cup quarterfinal.

Arsenal handed OGS his first defeat in the Premier League before the recent international break.

Man United’s downturn was predicted

A little under a month ago, on March 7, one Man United fan wrote an excellent letter to Football365 predicting that Solskjaer’s Man United would go of the boil.

The case was made that OGS benefitted from a large slab of luck in his opening months at the club. The email read:

Just wanted to back up Calum (Dalot looks like a real class player)’s email pointing out Ole’s lucky streak.

Sure, he has made an observable difference to morale and he and (Mike) Phelan have changed some tactics effectively, but take a look at xPts on understat.com – they have 9 points more in the league than expected since he took over, suggesting that, without a run of luck, they would still be well off the top 4 place.

(I know xG/xPts is not everyone’s cup of tea, but go to the site and look at a load of games and tell me you don’t find yourself saying ‘I watched that 1-0 game, and it did look more like 1-1 or 1-2 as xG suggests’).

Anyway, I fully expect United to revert to just below 2 points per game for the run in and finish outside the top 4 on 74 or 75 points.

So were the warning signs evident before this recent downturn in results? It seems so…

Also see: Paul Pogba & two Man United defenders slaughtered by Duncan Castles after Wolves.

Tottenham & Arsenal: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s top four points prediction.