MX23RW : Thursday, December 12 17:46:53| >> :60:138:138:
[monks data]
Manchester United logo
Europa League | Quarter-Finals
Apr 15, 2021 at 8pm UK
Old Trafford
Granada logo

Man Utd
2 - 0
Granada

Cavani (6'), Vallejo (90' og.)
Pogba (17')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Soldado (20'), Sanchez (61'), Neva (74')

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: 'Background at Old Trafford has affected home form'

Solskjaer: 'Background at Old Trafford has affected home form'
© Reuters
All four of Manchester United's Premier League defeats this season have come at home.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Manchester United’s patchy home form is partly down to the fact his players were unable to see each other clearly due to the red stadium wrap at Old Trafford.

Tuesday marked 25 years to the day since Sir Alex Ferguson famously ordered his players to change from their grey kit to a blue-and-white strip midway through a 3-1 loss at Southampton.

Solskjaer joined United the season after the Dell debacle and raised the issue of spotting players ahead of Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final second leg against Granada at an empty Old Trafford.

All four of this season’s Premier League defeats have come at home, while they suffered a key Champions League group loss to Paris St Germain there, along with the Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City.

Manchester United changed out of their grey kit midway through a 3-1 loss at Southampton on April 13, 1996
Manchester United changed out of their grey kit midway through a 3-1 loss at Southampton on April 13, 1996 (Fiona Hanson/PA)

When that record was put to Solskjaer along with the fact United have yet to win a home Europa League game despite triumphing at Real Sociedad, AC Milan and Granada without conceding, he said: “You’ll see a change now.

“If you see the banners round the club, it’s not red anymore. We’ve looked into this.

“There shouldn’t be any reason, really, but some of the players have mentioned that you know that split-second decision that you have to make, look over your shoulder if your team-mate’s there or not and the red shirt is on a red background just with the red seats.

“So we’ve of course tried to change that along with an anti-racism campaign so of course that was important that it wasn’t red anymore.

“Then again, there shouldn’t be any reason. But then again, if you’ve got a 4-0 advantage (like we did against Sociedad) you don’t really have to win that game. Nil-nil was a good result.

“Then the first game against Milan that’s still a draw, we conceded in the last minute.

“I still think we played some good football at home. We started off badly with the three defeats, with Palace, Tottenham and Arsenal very early on, so we’ve improved.”

United replaced the red stadium wrap with black banners at the start of April, which read ‘United Against Racism’ as part of the club’s See Red anti-racism campaign.

Manchester United's 2-1 comeback win against Brighton is their only match with the new design to date
Manchester United’s 2-1 comeback win against Brighton is their only match with the new design to date (Oli Scarff/PA)

Thursday’s quarter-final against Granada will be just the second match Solskjaer’s side have played at Old Trafford since the change in design.

United are well placed to seal a semi-final date against Roma or Ajax after winning the first leg 2-0 in Spain last week.

Marcus Rashford overcame injury concerns to open the scoring that night and, having been withdrawn in the second half, managed 72 minutes of Sunday’s 3-1 Premier League win at Tottenham.

But the 23-year-old, who has been dealing with an ankle complaint, looks set to be sidelined for the return fixture against Granada having missed training on the eve of the game.

United said: “Daniel James is fit, despite missing the win at Tottenham through injury, but Marcus Rashford had to sit out training on Wednesday and is, therefore, doubtful for the tie.”

Solskjaer will be without captain Harry Maguire, midfielder Scott McTominay and left-back Luke Shaw through suspension on Thursday after they collected bookings in Andalusia.

UEFA has handed United a 7,000 euros (£6,074) fine for picking up five yellow cards in the first leg win, while several players are walking a suspension tightrope ahead of the semi-finals.

“It’s never a positive thing to not have every player available but we’ve got players ready to deputise and come into the team of course,” Solskjaer said.

“It was (a booking) amnesty after this quarter final so we hoped to get them through, but there were some easy yellow cards that the ref handed out. We’re ready to deal with that.”

Anthony Martial and Phil Jones remain injured for a game that Eric Bailly will miss despite returning from the Ivory Coast, where he had previously tested positive for Covid-19.

“We have to make sure that we go through,” Solskjaer added. “I always pick a team that I think will win a game and we will go into it wanting to win this.

“I know Granada will want to come and give it our all but we also want to improve our performances, build our momentum that we’re on and have a good performance.

“There will be a few changes. Of course some of them are forced and some are maybe rotation.”

ID:443128:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect16718:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info

Click here for more stories about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Click here for more stories about Manchester United

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Lazio541013
2Frankfurt541013
3Anderlecht532011
4Galatasaray532011
5Lyon531110
6Rangers531110
7Ajax531110
8Spurs531110
9FCSB531110
10Ferencvaros53029
11Man Utd52309
12Plzen52309
13Olympiacos52218
14Fenerbahce62228
15Bodo/Glimt52127
16Real Sociedad52127
17AZ52127
18Midtjylland52127
19Braga52127
20Roma51316
21Besiktas52036
22Porto51225
23Union SG51225
24Hoffenheim51225
25Slavia Prague51134
26PAOK51134
27Elfsborg51134
28Malmo51043
29FC Twente50323
30M. Tel Aviv51043
31Qarabag51043
32Ludogorets50232
33RFS50232
34Nice50232
35Athletic Club00000
36Dynamo Kiev50050


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!