Manchester United must improve their mentality ahead of Barcelona clash

Manchester United have been poor since Ole Gunna Solskjaer was appointed as permanent manager. Things must change or they risk getting embarrassed by Barcelona.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked wonders after he was brought in as caretaker manager at Manchester United following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

The Norwegian won all eight of his first eight games in charge and oversaw a historic comeback against Paris Saint-Germain which saw the Red Devils progress into the quarterfinals of the Champions League against all odds.

However, since the 3-1 victory at the Parc des Princes, United have lost three out of four games – which has seen them crash out of the FA Cup and drop to 6th place in the Premier League table.

Solskjaer was given the permanent managerial job following back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and although he won his first game in charge as full-time boss against Watford, he went on to lose to Wolves yet again the following week.

Questions are now being asked on whether it would have been wiser to have waited until the end of the season to make the decision to keep the 46-year-old on – which I’m beginning to agree with.

The “new manager bounce” period is well and truly over. Solskjaer now needs to work on his players’ mentality to ensure that they are putting in 100 per cent week in and week out – otherwise they risk losing yet another game under their new manager.

Indeed, the Red Devils’ next fixture is against the mighty Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinals tie at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The last time United hosted a European opponent they ended up losing 2-0 to PSG. Although they managed to turn things around in spectacular fashion in the reverse fixture, I don’t see the same happening against Barcelona.

Unlike PSG, Barcelona are no bottlejobs. So make no mistake: if Ernesto Valverde’s side end up getting a result away from home, there will be no coming back for United when they face them again at Camp Nou in the second leg.

Hence, United will have to play like an entirely different side on Wednesday if they are to keep their hopes of European glory alive.