In his new column, Australian journalist Matthew Galea runs the rule over the week that was for Manchester United, whilst casting an eye on the action to come.

A Reality Check at Southampton

Last week, I reflected on what I believed to be the fact that whilst Manchester United were undoubtedly impressive in their opening day thrashing of Leeds United, there really wasn’t an opponent more suited for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team.

The trip to Southampton posed an entirely different question.

How would United cope against a side that would:

• Look to deny United’s greatest threats any space in the middle of the park
• Physically challenge United in the middle of the park

It’s the sort of question that would give an early insight into the true capability of this United team’s ability to challenge for the Premier League title.

It’s still extremely early days, but the early answers provided by United’s first away day of the season were not promising.

Hampered by the exhaustingly frustrating midfield axis of Fred and Nemanja Matic, United struggled to secure a foothold in the middle of the park.

The duo failed to provide United a reliable platform from which they could launch their attacks and offered very little protection for the defence behind them.

The trepidation at the heart of United’s midfield permeated throughout the side and – as a result – United failed to turn encouraging 10-minute episodes of play into the dominance they perhaps should have.

Southampton, to their credit, defended doggedly and harassed Fred and Matic into several mistakes.

And it is true that United – nor any team in the Premier League – has a God-given right to three points on their travels.

However, there is no denying that this game will do little to prove to Solskjaer’s many doubters that he is the man to take this club to its next Premier League crown.

Still, there were some positives to be taken from the game.

The improvement in set pieces thus far this season is extremely encouraging. United look far more threatening from dead ball situations this season than any in recent memory.

Paul Pogba thrived once again in his free role, which may be a double edged sword given it takes him away from the heart of a midfield sorely lacking quality.
David De Gea looked like something resembling his old self as he pulled off some exceptional saves.

Manage the season or the fixture? Ole’s tricky dilemma

I don’t count myself among Solskjaer’s detractors.

Overall, I think Manchester United at their best look a far better side than anything offered up by any of United’s managers post Sir Alex Ferguson.
Solskjaer has improved many of the players he inherited.

Overall, the players he has signed for the club have been drastically better players than what he already had.

More often than not, I enjoy watching United under Solskjaer more than I did under David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal or Jose Mourinho. Under Solskjaer, waking up at 2 am in the morning isn’t as much of a struggle as it has been in recent years.

Still, the lack of trophies ultimately means that if his reign was to end today, his reign may still not be judged a “success” by most United fans.

The match at Southampton seemed another troubling moment in which Solskjaer seemingly got his priority mixed up.

He picked a team with the rest of the season in mind, rather than the task immediately ahead of him.

The reality for Manchester United, however, is that preserving players for the middle and end of the season will not do the club much good if the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea are allowed to build an insurmountable lead.

The idea or ‘saving’ Jadon Sancho or Raphael Varane at this point seems nonsensical.

The decision to shift Greenwood out wide for a vastly underdone Anthony Martial after Greenwood’s exceptional performance against Leeds was another decision I struggled to get my head around.

With the benefit of hindsight, the midfield selection of Fred and Matic proved every bit as slow, ponderous and frankly disastrous as even the most optimistic of supporter might have believed it would be.

The continued exile of Donny Van Der Beek, who must watch on in horror at some of the minutes given to players ahead of him, is another confusing element of Solskjaer’s selections.

Did Solskjaer want him in the first place? If not, why was he signed?

Is the issue how he performs in training? Is it that he doesn’t quite fit into the requirements of one of the available midfield roles?

The reality is that we have not seen enough of Van Der Beek to know whether or not he offers a solution to United’s midfield woes, but with Scott McTominay set to miss at least a month following groin surgery, Pogba playing some of his best football for United in his free role on the left and no signs of midfield reinforcements coming in, surely it’s now or never for the Dutchman to prove his worth to Solskjaer.

The question is, will he get the chance?

Regardless, it would be very hard to justify a starting XI at Wolves this Sunday that does not include Sancho, Varane and a different midfield.

Ronaldo.

I’ve seen some people on Twitter claim they wouldn’t be bothered if Cristiano Ronaldo was to sign for Manchester City.

They don’t think it would tarnish his legacy at Manchester United.

Frankly, I’m getting sick just thinking about it.

Nothing should surprise us in modern football and looking at some of the reports over the last 24 hours, I now fully expect Ronaldo to be a Manchester City player in the coming days.

And it’s bloody heartbreaking.

The star of the best United team I’ve had the pleasure of watching playing for Manchester City…

Eugh.

Football, bloody hell.