Manchester United shook hands with Villarreal 1-1 in the 90th minute of the UEFA Cup final and the contest had to go into extra time. Both sides were allowed a short break and setup on the sidelines before kickoff, and surprisingly, Red Devils boss Solskjaer was coldly watching during this period, and it was back-rower Paul Pogba, captain Bruno Fernandes and assistant coach Mike Phelan who took on the job of motivating morale and arranging tactics, respectively.
Pogba gave an impassioned team speech to his Manchester United teammates, harking back to his performance in the 2018 World Cup final against Croatia. At the time, the Gauls ended up winning 4-2 to lift the Hercules Cup. But the best efforts of Pogba and then Fernandez, who spoke later, to rouse his United teammates were unsuccessful. United were underdogs in the 30-minute extra time and didn't invent any chances. In the end, the two sides can only penalty shootout to decide the winner, De Gea missed the final goal, Manchester United 10-11 regret defeat.
It is worth mentioning that after the footage of Pogba's speech, the broadcast camera switched to Villarreal's side, only to see manager Emery standing in the center of the players, hand-wringing to his disciples about the problems he had found in the customary competitions, and laying out the tactics to be used in the extra time.
By contrast, when the live feed returned to United's side of the pitch, Solskjaer still wasn't the star of the show, only to be replaced by assistant coach Phelan facetiming the players in the crowd, with Sokal part of the audience. After the players dispersed, Solskjaer straightened his suit and laughed and joked with captain Maguire, who was unable to get in.
There is no doubt that Solskjaer's non-intrusive management style can usually motivate players to utilize their talents. However, he lacks the ability to strategize and master the key moments in a crucial battle like the UEFA Cup final, which is a game to be won or lost. In contrast, Emery, who has won the UEFA Cup 3 times and participated in the final 5 times, obviously has more experience and stronger technical and tactical skills.
It is worth mentioning that this is the third time Emery gave Solskjaer a death blow. Solskjaer coaching Norwegian Molde, had suffered in the UEFA Cup led by Emery Sevilla, Molde finished; after coaching Manchester United, Solskjaer began the 12 rounds of unbeaten Premier League, but also in the Champions League invention of the miracle reversal of Paris Saint-Germain, by the then Arsenal skipper Emery finished.
Now, Solskjaer's old grudge has not been avenged and add a new hate, can only see Emery become the first ever 4 times to win the UEFA Cup manager, while he missed to get the first trophy at Manchester United, as well as become the first Norwegian manager to win the European Championships of the two major achievements.
After the game, Solskjaer confessed that United need to get better. We need to get better, it's as simple as that. We've done well this season, in a difficult situation, without any pre-season, losing three of our first six games, all at home. But we moved forward in the league, maybe closer to the top than we thought, and we reached the final, but you need to win the final to make the season better. The manager said.
