Is Solskjaer ready to drop Ronaldo?

AFTER Manchester United’s humiliating 5-0 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faced predictable calls for him to be sacked and speculation began over his possible successor.

There is no indication yet that United will pull the plug on his nearly three-year spell in charge, but with away games at Tottenham and Atalanta before the visit of Manchester City, the Norwegian needs to act quickly get his team back in shape.

United’s best performances under Solskjaer, such as wins against the likes of City and Paris Saint-germain, have come when the team has played counterattacking football.

The most obvious way back to some respectability is to make the most of the pace they have in the wide areas with players like Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho.

But it is hard to see how that style could be fully effective with 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo leading the line. He can no longer move at the pace required from a central striker in such a style and the most logical decision would be to replace him with the more mobile Edison Cavani.

The Portuguese star could be the perfect ‘impact sub’, coming on to grab late winners, but is Solskjaer ready to bench a player who was signed to such fanfare only two months ago?

Chelsea homegrown talent shines

When Thomas Tuchel went to Stamford Bridge in January, there were fears for the future of homegrown Chelsea players who got their break under former coach Frank Lampard.

Mason Mount was dropped to the bench in Tuchel’s first game, but he quickly persuaded Tuchel of his quality and on Saturday, in his first league start in a month after injury, he bagged a hat-trick in the 7-0 romp over Norwich.

Other former Chelsea academy players also shone with Callum Hudson-odoi and Reece James scoring, Trevoh Chalobah solid in defence and Ruben Loftus-cheek coming on as a substitute to set up the final goal.

Tuchel said the mix of homegrown talent and players bought from other clubs made “things special, and it creates a certain energy and atmosphere”.