Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been criticised by pundit Chris Sutton for showing ‘weak management’ in last night’s 1-1 draw with Wolves.
The Norwegian tactician said after the game that he has two designated penalty takers in Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford and that it is up to them to decide who takes each penalty, as reported by BBC Sport.
MORE: Why Glazers blocked Manchester United ace’s transfer at the last minute
Sutton, however, was left unimpressed by this method, which ultimately saw Pogba miss a penalty that could’ve won the game against Wolves, whereas Rashford took a spot-kick just last week against Chelsea and scored.
“It is the job of the manager to designate. That is a huge moment. United could have won the game,” Sutton told BBC 5 Live, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“You can’t say, ‘I’ll leave it down to the players’. I like Ole but that’s weak management.
“Rashford may have missed as well, but we’d have understood because he took the last one. He shouldn’t be allowed to make that decision himself. It wouldn’t be allowed under someone like former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.”
United fans will probably agree that Solskjaer needs to be stronger and pick his best penalty taker, rather than allowing players to decide in potentially big moments in games.
It’s perfectly possible that there would not have been the same level of attention on this incident if Pogba had scored, but a club of Man Utd’s size surely cannot be taking risks like this at the highest level.