Cardiff vs Manchester United: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must wait to be judged but the promising signs are there
Cardiff 1-5 Manchester United: Solskjaer's side played with a creative freedom that was lacking during the latter stages of Jose Mourinho's reign
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United scored five goals for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer began his brief tenure with a 5-1 Premier League win against Cardiff.
Jesse Lingard’s two goals capped off a fine away day for United, which began with Marcus Rashford scoring a free kick inside three minutes.
Ander Herrera and Anthony Martial added goals either side of Victor Camarasa’s penalty before Lingard added two to give Solskjaer an emphatic win in his first game.
Here are five things we learned from Cardiff:
1. Too early to judge Solskjaer
What a start to Solskjaer’s reign. Manchester United, 20 times winner of the league and a side worth hundreds of millions of pounds, managed to beat Cardiff, a side managed by Neil Warnock and above the relegation zone by two points. Words defy what a start to the brief tenure this is for the new manager. We have our United back!
Of course, winning is certainly ideal and Solskjaer can only play what is in front of him, but let’s calm down a little.
There were definitely some encouraging signs for the on-loan manager and the performance seemingly proved to be exactly what he was brought in to produce, but tougher tests will come. Can this lifted spirit carry United through games against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League or in derbies against Manchester City and Liverpool?
United were very pleasing to watch, Martial’s goal was a particular highlight, but it is far too soon to over-analyse this match, because let’s be honest, Mourinho will have certainly won this game too.
Another promising sign was United’s apparent freedom to attack once they started scoring. Wayne Rooney admitted that a Mourinho side may just settle for one goal and defend it, but in Cardiff there was no halting the relentless desire to attack from the players in red.
2. Solskjaer sets out his stall with his selection
Paul Pogba can expect to leave the tracksuits and Manchester United branded padded coats to one side from now on as it seems his time on the bench is thing of the past.
The World Cup-winning midfielder watched Mourinho’s last two matches from the bench but was recalled along with Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and Martial for the match against Cardiff.
There was no place in the start side for £52m summer signing Fred, Eric Bailly, Diogo Dalot and Matteo Darmian were relegated to the bench, while Romelu Lukaku was absent on compassionate leave.
3. Fluid formation points to progress
The biggest difference between this individual match and the opening 17 league matches of the season was the increased fluidity, a return to the ‘old United’ if you will.
The movement of the three-pronged attack of Lingard, Rashford and Martial was too much for Cardiff to handle and was responsible for some eye-catching United moves.
But, as with every take from this match, the test will be whether Solskjaer can continue this style of play in future matches, and especially in games where increased defensive awareness will be required.
4. Can Rashford lead the line when Lukaku returns?
Romelu Lukaku’s struggle in front of goal this season has shifted the scoring responsibility onto other players in the team, and while there still remains a shortage of goals throughout the season, Rashford is beginning to take responsibility of leading the line.
His first-half free kick was his third in four matches, but just his eighth of the season for club and country. Whether he will remain first choice when Lukaku remains to be seen, but his form certainly deserves a chance to be able to start when the Belgian returns.
Martial chipping in with a tidy finish, his ninth of the season, will also please Solskjaer. Getting the best out of him and restoring his confidence may go a long way to determining what kind of legacy Solskjaer leaves.
5. Result will not define Cardiff’s season
Despite a bit of a thrashing on home soil, there, presumably, will be very few disgruntled Cardiff fans having watched that performance. Many sides below the bottom six have struggled to take points from the Old Trafford side this season and their attempt was no disgrace.
Warnock openly admits his side’s season will not be defined by these kind of games, and looking at the table as we edge towards the half-way point in the season, he can take pride from the first 18 games.
To not be in the bottom three is an incredible achievement and there has been some memorable performances at the Cardiff City Stadium, one high-profile defeat will not take that away from their passionate supporters.
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