Manchester United vs Cardiff – Match Preview
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This really has been a season to forget for Manchester United and although a change of manager has bought about a hint of promise, that change has only further highlighted that it is the players who are the fundamental issue at Old Trafford.
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer taking the reigns of the club at the end of 2018, the Norwegian was only meant to be a safe pair of hands, before the United hierarchy announced a high-profile replacement for Jose Mourinho.
However, strange things have a habit of happening in football and after the unbeaten run that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer oversaw, then there was no way that someone else could make a claim to be installed as manager of Manchester United on a permanent basis.
The likeable former striker who scored the wining goal in the 1999 Champions League final was no doubt a popular choice with fans and pundits alike, but hindsight is also a wonderful thing and perhaps the feeling now is the appointment was made a little too soon.
Was judgement clouded after that sensational win in Paris, you would have to say it was and perhaps since Solskjaer has been named as manager on a fulltime basis, the players no longer feel that they have to make the extra effort.
This has certainly been the case as far as Premier League form has gone and it is that form, which has ultimately cost the Red Devils a top four berth and subsequently entry into next season’s Champions League.
You only have to look at their efforts last Sunday against Huddersfield, when they were held to a draw by the league’s basement team, to see that this is a group of players that have no longer got the spark they once possessed.
While because of that draw, they now going into the final day of the season having to prepare for a dead rubber against an already relegated Cardiff outfit, whose fate was finally confirmed last weekend.
Neil Warnock’s men fell to defeat at home to Crystal Palace and with that their stint in the top-flight was one that only lasted for a solitary season. At the same time, there can be few complaints about their performances and had they a proven goalscorer they would have been in a better situation.
Of course, the tragic efforts concerning that of Emiliano Sala, would certainly not have helped matters in January and there will be a big ‘what if’ being asked by fans of the South Wales outfit, in terms of what difference the Argentine could have made.
Whether this is the last game that Neil Warnock has in charge of Cardiff remains to be seen, but with the EFL Championship being such a war of attrition, you do have to wonder if he has the appetite for another arduous nine month campaign.
Regardless of whether this is a last hurrah or not, Cardiff will want to end the season with a flourish. However, United will have been given a huge wake up call last Sunday and the least they can do is support their manager, by recording a final day home win.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
EPL
622414
1
3 - 0
3.00
15°-16°
1.30
1.30
6.06
9.70
1
-1
-1
0 - 2(0 - 1)
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