Manchester United’s season could now be defined by one rash Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decision

Solskjaer’s time at United is becoming increasingly difficult and the success of the club’s 2019/20 campaign could now ultimately hinge on one seemingly rash decision

If management is the art of using imperfect information to make perfect decisions, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s introduction of Marcus Rashford midway through an FA Cup third round replay can be politely described as sub-optimal.

In the aftermath of defeat at Anfield on Sunday, the cost of Rashford’s 16-minute cameo four days earlier against Wolves was finally confirmed. Six weeks out minimum with added time for rehabilitation. Make no mistake about it, to play him was a poor and costly call.

There is a significant element of hindsight involved here, of course. If Rashford had not suffered an injury then we would have no reason to think twice about Solskjaer’s decision to bring him on when in search of a goal. The punt would have paid off. The gamble would have been forgotten.

But instead, Rashford will be unavailable for a substantial amount of time at a critical stage of the season, all because United were in mild danger of not reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup – a competition that is not their priority.

Who could United play in the fourth round anyway, you might ask? Tranmere Rovers away from home, on a pitch so bad that the Chelsea women’s manager Emma Hayes took aim at Prenton Park tenants Liverpool last month by calling it “a stain on their football club.”

Yes, if United are made to travel to Tranmere with less than three days notice, they will play on a surface that warranted its own club statement last week. Rashford, Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba could well be joined by more of their team-mates in the treatment room.

But Rashford is the immediate concern. Solskjaer insisted on Sunday that this was a fresh problem rather than a recurrence of an old one. “He’s got a new injury against Wolverhampton,” he told television cameras, and was reluctant to expand on that answer in his press conference.

This claim did not necessarily contradict his comments after the Wolves game, but that night, he gave the impression that Rashford had suffered from a number of recent back issues and that this was just the latest. “He has struggled a little bit with a couple of knocks with his back lately and he got another one which didn’t help,” he told BT Sport.

Then, in his post-Wolves press conference, Solskjaer suggested these issues were the reason behind Rashford being rested. “I didn’t want to play him,” he said. “I think he got a knock, a knee or something in his back. But he’s been struggling for a little while, that’s why we kept him away today.”

Rashford suffered regularly with back problems as a young player and, in an interview with The Times last August, he revealed he has used a special ultrasound bone-healing device to treat discomfort in that area. He was pictured carrying the device while leaving the Lowry Hotel last Saturday ahead of the 4-0 victory over Norwich.

Rashford scored twice against Norwich, once from the penalty spot, and was taken off shortly before the hour mark. It is understood that he was in significant discomfort in the days after that win, and even found it painful to sit down at a promotional event held at Hotel Football in Manchester, across the road from Old Trafford.

But even if Rashford’s injury is a different one to any problems he experienced before or after the Norwich game, Solskjaer’s judgement still has to be questioned. Rashford was, by Solskjaer’s admission, already struggling with his back. If that was reason enough to leave him out of the starting line-up against Wolves, why bring him on at all?

Did the reward of the fourth round outweigh the risk of injury? Solskjaer talked about “needing the win” against Wolves that night, but United are now in far greater need of their top scorer for a significant chunk of league fixtures that could ultimately determine whether they finish in the top four or not.

Solskjaer gambled when he threw on Rashford against Wolves (Getty)

It is not like Rashford’s introduction against Wolves was the only odd decision at Old Trafford recently – take the puzzling pursuit of Bruno Fernandes, for example, or offering Ashley Young another year-long contract while he already had one foot out the door – but given the lengthy lay-off, it does look particularly reckless.

Solskjaer admitted on the night of the Wolves game that his decision to had “backfired”. After Sunday’s grim prognosis, that is suddenly an understatement. This could be a season-defining decision and not a correct one.