Manchester United suffered a humiliating FA Cup semi-final defeat against Chelsea, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will surely be forced to confront some tough issues.

Solskjaer made a number of bold changes to the team and selection, but both aspects backfired, and his team put in one of the worst performances of the campaign at precisely the wrong time.

Eric Bailly, Brandon Williams, Fred and Daniel James came into the United team, all with differing volumes of underwhelming contributions, although the majority of the blame is sure to be heaped on the shoulders of David De Gea and Victor Lindelof, two of the team’s regular mainstays in defence.

United set up with a three man defence, and there was nothing wrong with that as Solskjaer has done that before against these opponents and always ended with a positive result. But it seemed as if he had a little too much faith in the quality he has; and that was a crucial issue.

Clearly, and obviously, question marks are asked about United’s ability to change up their team, but that is disregarding the generally accepted truth that the first team itself is probably short of three or four players to challenge at the top level. Unfortunately for Solskjaer this came home to roost.

A flat first half was petering out with United hoping to get through to the break and make changes. But before they could, Eric Bailly clashed with Harry Maguire in a collision of heads and had to be brought off. Bailly had long had a reputation of being a liability to himself and opponents. It may be harsh in the circumstances to add team-mates to that list but against this very team opponent two years ago he did something similar and was stretchered off. He was brought off again here just before the break and once again we’re left to question whether an obviously talented defender can be counted on at all.

Those same questions are asked of Victor Lindelof. The Swede was caught off guard and on the wrong side of Olivier Giroud. Matic and Williams did not cover themselves in glory as the cross came in, but Giroud was given much too simple a chance to fire away.

Immediately, United hit back. Martial got the wrong side of Zouma – he managed to get in front of his compatriot and was brought down on the edge of the box. Zouma should have been dismissed. Mike Dean – he with a long history of decisions against United in crucial games, he who was withdrawn from the 2006 FA Cup Final – decided it was not a foul. United deserved nothing from the game on their own merit but Dean’s intervention was concerning, yet again. This came after at least two occasions where he managed to perform as a Chelsea defender with obstructions in United’s attacking phases.

But there was plenty of blame to be shared in the Old Trafford dressing room. David de Gea could have been blamed for a weak hand on the first goal but couldn’t avoid the blame for the second when Mason Mount’s saveable shot was allowed to squirm in. But, again, this should have been stopped at source. Williams gave the ball away – maybe it’s the injury, maybe this was a game too soon for him – but Lindelof and Maguire, with bags more experience, should have done better than to point to each other and allow Mount to do as he wished.

United’s response was weak and pitiful. Changes were made but were pointless. Perhaps if Solskjaer had utilised his squad earlier since June, in the case of Dan James and Odion Ighalo, they wouldn’t have cut such peripheral and low on confidence figures. Pogba and Fernandes were wasteful. Harry Maguire, guilty of three such misses against Palace, headed a glaring chance wide.

And then Rudiger, via Maguire netted a third – Lindelof was covering the near post but was nowhere near. Maguire’s reaction was too late. This was a very poor outing for the centre of defence.

With five minutes to go, Martial was felled and Fernandes scored from the spot. 

It sparked hopes of a comeback, but those were based on the badge of the shirt those players were wearing and not the quality of the players wearing it.

United got just what they deserved, and Solskjaer, who has talked up the quality of his squad so much the only explanation must be that he started to believe it, will now understand his own folly. It is simply not a case at United that the squad is strong enough to carry rotation on such occasions. This was not a one-off ‘bad day’ – this is the sort of performance we’re all very aware that this group of players can put in. We had hoped that they had matured to get away from that. They haven’t.

The most damning thing of all was that such a poor Chelsea side, in comparison to recent years, won at such a canter. But Solskjaer must learn from this or he will inevitably suffer the same fate as many of these players are doomed to.

Selection / Formation

Despite what happened and despite what might be popularly said, there seemed to be little error with the actual system. It was cancelling out the Chelsea approach even though it was distinctly unimpressive in its own right. The issue came after the first injury, which is where we could begin to point fingers at the personnel.

Solskjaer’s Plan B was to set up in his usual Plan A, which Chelsea would have surely prepared for, and were now able to hold off at ease with a two goal lead. This is not a criticism of either system for Ole, more, the over-confidence in those players who started to do well on such an occasion. At the most optimistic that starting team could have held out until such time that fresher players came on to win the game. 

It was a big gamble. 

It backfired in a major way. 

In the end it reflected badly on everyone because it reinforced the idea that even those who came on can disappear in times of adversity. There are going to be some big questions over the future of some of these players. One loss, even on such a big occasion, won’t bring Solskjaer’s future into question, but it will invite much-deserved criticism.

One can only presume he gambled with the prospect of Champions League qualification in sight. If that slips up, then history will not reflect well on two embarrassing semi-final defeats this season, however well he has turned things around in the main.

Ratings

De Gea – 3 – Should have done better for the first. Should have stopped the second. Should have done better for the third. A couple of camera saves did not select from one of De Gea’s worst outings for the club at a time his future is being questioned. This did not put a positive case forward for him.

Wan-Bissaka – 5 – Too much football recently. Poor, and perhaps understandable in some regards, but these are the games he needs to step up. Hopefully a hard learning experience.

Lindelof – 3 – There are far too many basic errors in his game for any United fan to have conviction he can star in a top side at Old Trafford. It was bad enough that he allowed the Southampton goal – but to do the same again a few days later in a semi-final was, sadly, a very high-profile example of why United need a better partner for Maguire.

Maguire – 4 – Not that the captain’s performance was much more inspiring. Also culpable, if not in so much an obvious way, for all three goals, and also guilty of a big miss. Not the commanding performance United fans hope for, or expect.

Bailly – 4 – Some shaky moments with needless risks taken in possession. Erratic and unsettling. 

Williams – 4 – Not helped by what was around him, but a shaky performance. Hopefully he will learn from it.

Matic – 5- One of United’s better performers of the campaign but possibly a victim, here, of the big changes to the team. He is a cog in a machine but when that machine is broken up, the cog sometimes looks pointless.

Fred – 5 – Not his best outing.

Fernandes – 5 – Wasteful and tired. The Eric comparisons seem a little unhelpful and premature. He can’t do it all on his own and can’t be expected to.

James – 4 – It seemed unfair to ask him to start on such an occasion.

Rashford – 4 – Not at the races.

Subs :

Martial – 5 – Won the penalty but was largely invisible

Greenwood – 5 – Not in the game at all after being brought on.

Pogba – 5 – Just as Fernandes; wasteful and peripheral.

Fosu-Mensah

Ighalo