Ronaldo saved Ole Gunnar Solskjaer again, but United have serious flaws

Earlier this season, Cristiano Ronaldo did not return to Manchester United to keep Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's position, but he is now almost single-handedly protecting.

United's once again unfortunate performance was masked by Ronaldo's 2-2 draw with Atalanta in Bergamo, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's smile after the game masked the fact that he had to save himself as soon as possible.

Cristiano Ronaldo is United's oldest player and he scored a crucial equaliser in injury time in the first and second halves, keeping Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side in group f number one. Later this month, with a win against Villarreal in Spain, United will secure its place in the round of 16, which will also bring miracles to the guarantee of the position of Manchester United coach.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is incredible," Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after the game. "If there's a chance you want, a hard one, it's unbelievable."

Even Ronaldo admitted United were lucky, with the striker saying: "We were a little bit lucky at the end, but that's football."

"We still need to improve, we have different players, different systems and we have to adapt to each other, but it takes time. We have time to improve and get better. ”

It was the third time in a row that Ronaldo had made a decisive intervention in the Champions League, with his home wins over Villarreal and Atalanta before the 92nd minute shot at the Bergamo Stadium.

Add that all together and his goal in Group F is worth five points. His contribution in the Premier League has also been significant, scoring four goals in seven games. Yes, he has created tactical trouble for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because he can no longer do anything, but any claim that Ronaldo is against the team, just look at his game winner and the saver against Atalanta.

"Some people even say he's a trouble, imagine Ronaldo is a trouble!" He never strayed off goal — half the time he scored and the other half he was saved," said Atalant coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

But no top team, or top coach, will let their hopes and futures be pinned on just one player. So far, at least, United can consider themselves lucky that Ronaldo has still been able to act like Superman while everyone else has acted like the coach told them to do, working for themselves on the pitch.

That's where United are now. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was beaten 5-0 by Liverpool a week ago and Saturday's 3-0 win over Tottenham gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer less pressure, but it would be naïve and stupid to think that the outcome of the match had stabilized the team and That Liverpool's defeat was just a small episode.

In Bergamo, United have been poor for most of the time. After Rafael Varane was injured in the first half, their defence was once again in disarray. United started as five defenders after a successful tactical switch at Tottenham, but they were still trailing for the eighth time in 15 games when Aron Wan-Bissaka was intercepted in 12 minutes, giving Divan Zapata enough time and space to hit him and pass to Josip Ilysic, who beat David De Gea from 12 yards to equalize 1-0.

Wan-Bissaka and Bailey played like strangers, leaving a gap on the right, but Bailey at least made up for it with a series of key defensive blocks.

Harry Maguire, meanwhile, was constantly beaten by Zapata and Mario Passaric in terms of speed and running position, and the backline still looked chaotic when United switched defence to four after Valen limped away in the 38th minute.

Ronaldo equalised in the first minute of injury time, when he scored a goal in bruno Fernandez's heel to help United gain a foothold in the game, but the second half staged a chaotic situation for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.

Zapata and Passalic continued to cause big trouble, with Zapata restoring Atalanta's lead in the 57th minute after embarrassing Bailly and Maguire.

So United are chasing another game and are in a panic again – one of the recurring problems with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.

They can't control their own game and don't have a realistic plan. It's just an example of racing at 100 miles per hour, hoping to have a breakthrough and then flushing and repeating without success the first time.

Take a look at Liverpool and Manchester City and see how patiently they control the game, by carrying the ball in midfield, controlling the rhythm and testing each other before finding a breakthrough.

That's what the top teams do, but United simply can't control the midfield. Paul Pogba was left behind by Solskjaer against Liverpool and subsequently saved by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but he did not control the ball, but conceded the ball several times. The French midfielder is considered one of the best players in the world, but he is careless in possession and lacks the desire to take the ball back.

All of this can be attributed to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. As a coach, he has to have a tactical approach, get the best out of his players and build a solid defense and midfield.

But the former Cardiff and Maud coach, who has been at Manchester United for almost three years, still needs to prove that he can accomplish the most basic tasks.

Eventually, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have to crack this code because you can't get away with it forever in this level of play.

But when he has Ronaldo, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may continue to be lucky. Or maybe his Old Trafford bosses were lucky enough to avoid problems that seemed so obvious to others.