Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to take charge when Manchester United take on Tottenham on Saturday. His future as United manager remains up in the air, and it's debatable whether he could survive another defeat at Spurs, just a week to go before the November FIFA break.
1. A clean sheet is a must
Nothing is coming easily for Solskjaer at the moment because United can't keep a clean sheet. United's clean sheet record stands at just one in their past 21 games with the last clean sheet at Old Trafford dating back to Mar. 14.
Whatever other issues need to be addressed, Ole needs to ensure his team are organised and compact against Tottenham who have two of the Premier League's stand-out forwards in Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, and will fancy their chances against a defence that's leaked 11 goals in their last three games.
Ole will be desperate to win, but he mustn't lose. Stop Spurs scoring, and United will go home with at least a point. Ole has to first stop the rot at the back.
2. Strong decisions to be made against underperforming big players
For all the question marks about Solskjaer's ability as a manager, the players have got to take some responsibility. Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire have both taken criticism for their terrible performances against Leicester and Liverpool,
One of the accusations levelled at Solskjaer is that he doesn't trust his fringe players enough to feel confident dropping his stars, but Shaw and Maguire can have no complaints if they don't start against Tottenham.
Players like Jesse Lingard, Edi Cavani and Eric Bailly should be given their first start in the PL this season.
3. The Cristiano Ronaldo Conundrum
Despite his impressive record of six goals in nine games since his return, there are limitations to Cristiano Ronaldo's game. He's not going to start pressing centre-backs at 36 years old.
He might not be in the mould of a modern centre-forward, but he remains one of the best strikers in the world. Solskjaer needs to find a way of getting the ball to him in the penalty area more often. United have looked more dangerous going forward since Marcus Rashford has been back in the team, but the attacking blueprint needs to be more sophisticated than banging long balls into the channels for him to chase.
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