No home wins: Man Utd form must improve fast to ease pressure on Solskjaer

As the final whistle went at Goodison Park two weeks ago there was a roar of relief from the Manchester United players on the pitch.

It had been a real backs-against-the-wall, dogged victory against Everton; they had to come from behind and fought for the badge and for the manager after a disappointing result in the Champions League midweek against Istanbul Basaksehir.

The external noises questioning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position as manager were getting louder and the presence of Mauricio Pochettino, who had returned to our screens on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football the week before, was not helping matters.

That 3-1 win eased the pressure on Solskjaer but it has not gone away altogether. It’s still an irritating background noise.

His job was not - and still is not - under threat. That stance has been reiterated by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who publicly gave his backing to the under-fire Norwegian. But unless they can start to find some consistency then that pressure is never going to disappear.

Solskjaer cut a relaxed figure as he took questions from the media on Friday afternoon. He doesn’t come across as a man worried for his job and that’s because he continues to plan for the future with his ideas for transfers and conversations with the club hierarchy.

The fact is, he’s been in a similar situation a number of times before in his near two-year spell in charge at Old Trafford.

It was only the start of this year that Solskjaer saw his side booed off the pitch after losing 2-0 to Burnley at home. Some had claimed back then that his job would become untenable had they lost to Tranmere in the next fixture.

But they went to Prenton Park and scored six before beating Manchester City, drawing against Wolves and getting a result against Chelsea.

Before that, the spotlight was on Solskjaer after a drab draw against Aston Villa left United with just 18 points from their opening 14 Premier League games in a campaign where they had started with just 10 points after nine matches. 

Again, when the stakes were high after that Villa stalemate, they recorded back-to-back wins against Tottenham and Manchester City. This team know how to get results when the odds are stacked against them and the pressure is rising. However, the key to any long-term success and progression is getting a consistency that has so far been lacking.

Seven games into the new league campaign they have failed to record consecutive wins and have yet to register a home victory in the league. Solskjaer downplayed the significance of the poor home form on Friday afternoon.  

“Our best win this season was against Leipzig at home,” he reminded journalists. “It's something we want to correct and get our first win hopefully against West Brom but it's a different sensation playing in front of the Stretford End without fans, they usually score a goal for us.”

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Nobody could dispute that but, one good result at Old Trafford in five attempts this season just isn’t good enough and a defeat on Saturday evening would mean West Brom, who have yet to win a game this season, would be just three points behind them.

That pressure - which at the moment is just white noise - would be ramping up again. Solskjaer knows what he needs from his team going into another difficult and hectic period.

After the win against Everton he said: “My job now is to make sure that guard is up every time and doesn't drop, and we don't go into any game with a sense of: 'We don't have to work, that it will be easy and we can out-play teams'.”

He is expecting a ‘difficult’ game against Slaven Bilic’s side and there will be no let up after it.

Istanbul Basaksehir come to town on Tuesday before tricky away trips to Southampton, West Ham and RB Leipzig, not forgetting a home clash against Paris Saint-Germain, all before the first derby of the season at Old Trafford at the start of December.

The schedule is relentless and unforgiving.

The win against Everton was crucial but it needs to be a springboard to consistency or the questions, doubt and pressure will return even stronger than before.