Paul Merson has insisted that it is vital that Manchester United “kick on and go and win a trophy” before the end of this season.
Man United exited the FA Cup at the hands of Leicester City on Sunday. Former Man City forward Kelechi Iheanacho bagged a brace to help the Foxes win 3-1.
Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw were rested by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the game despite being two of United’s best players this season.
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Writing in his column for Sky Sports, Merson questioned the thinking of United’s board amid their FA Cup elimination:
“When you rotate, you have to get the balance right. When you rotate and you win, it’s great but when you rotate and you don’t win, that’s when the problems start.
“Thomas Tuchel has probably rotated just as much as Frank Lampard did but because Frank never got the results, people said he rotated too much. But because Thomas Tuchel is getting the results, no one mentions it.
“The one player Manchester United have to play is [Bruno] Fernandes. He’s played every single week in virtually every game, then it gets to the quarter-final of the FA Cup and he doesn’t play.
“He’s played in other games where the game is sort of a dead rubber where they’ve won the first leg and he’s played. I thought it was strange and a bad result for Man Utd. Shocking.
“People keep laughing because I keep saying it but Manchester United are the biggest club in world football, in my opinion. But they need to win something. It’s alright going and beating Man City and stopping the run, but you’ve got to kick on and go and win a trophy. Now the pressure is on – they’ve got the Europa and that’s it.
“I don’t know what they’re thinking upstairs at United. I don’t know if they’re thinking ‘just get us top four, Champions League football and we’ll go from there’.
“They’re going to get Champions League football, I don’t see them finishing outside the top four so for Ole not to keep his job when teams like Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal might not finish in the top four – it’s not as easy as it used to be to walk into the top four every year.
“It depends how the owners perceive it and what they want. If it’s going to keep ticking over the books for them, getting into the top four, it’s a job well done. For me, it’s Manchester United and they need to be winning trophies. But if they win the Europa League and get in the top four, which I expect them to, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
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