Man United’s weary stars are giving Solskjaer plenty to worry about ahead of Leicester clash

So Manchester United will qualify for the Champions League if they beat or draw with Leicester City on Sunday.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Let’s be honest, if you’d offered Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that scenario after that dreadful 2-0 loss to Burnley in late January – or indeed before the season – he’d have wrenched your hand off.

And if you’d said to Solskjaer that his team would come into that decisive final day fixture off the back of 13 unbeaten in the Premier League, that familiar smile wouldn’t be far from his lips.

Manchester United turned in a lacklustre performance in Wednesday’s draw with West Ham

There were plenty of worrying signs for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the flat display

United sit third ahead of the final day and know a win or draw against Leicester will be enough

Yet nobody at Old Trafford is dusting off the Champions League theme music tape quite yet. Despite the odds being stacked in their favour, nobody is viewing Sunday as a foregone conclusion.

Wednesday night’s performance against West Ham was worryingly listless and lethargic. United were only deserving of a point and that’s precisely what they got.

The snap and sparkle, the energy and edge that had hallmarked their first few games post-restart was absent. Frankly, Solskjaer’s side looked knackered as if the season had finally caught up with them.

‘The last couple of games have been poor – lacking in energy, urgency and quality,’ said Gary Neville on Sky Sports, hitting the nail on the head.

‘They looked really flat where they have looked really good since this restart.’

Bruno Fernandes lacked his usual influence as United struggled to break down West Ham

Paul Pogba wasn’t on top of his game at Old Trafford and conceded a penalty for handball

Perhaps it’s little surprise energy levels are waning. United have played 10 matches in 33 days since football returned and so the dip was inevitable.

But what will give Solskjaer sleepless nights before Sunday is that it’s come at the worst possible moment.

Just as United were beginning to rediscover some of the attacking swagger more reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson’s successful teams the malaise has set in.

Not only does it not bode well for their chances of completing the job on Sunday but they still have another high-intensity spell of games ahead when the Europa League resumes early next month.

If United lose to Leicester on Sunday, they’ll have to win that competition to get back into the Champions League and that’s far from guaranteed.

It all boils down to an Achilles heel that Solskjaer can’t really address until all those games have been played – a lack of squad depth.

David de Gea and Harry Maguire has both struggles at times during the last few games

Marcus Rashford rues a missed opportunity during United’s game at Crystal Palace last week

The England striker found it tough going as a stubborn West Ham defence kept United at bay

The difference in quality and reliability between United’s first choice XI and the back-up brigade is shown in the fact Solskjaer has made just seven team changes in the Premier League since the restart.

He knows he cannot rotate too far from his best team on the evidence of the two FA Cup performances in recent weeks.

In the quarter-final at Norwich, Solskjaer made eight changes believing the likes of Fred, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Odion Ighalo would prove too strong for opponents rock bottom of the league.

In the end, United struggled to break Norwich down and Solskjaer had little choice but to send for the heavy mob. Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Nemanja Matic and Marcus Rashford all came on and rescued the situation.

And in Sunday’s semi-final with Chelsea at Wembley, Solskjaer again rung the changes only to see his weakened team completely fail to get a grip on the contest and ultimately lose 3-1.

Solskjaer had to call in the cavalry to get past stubborn Norwich in the FA Cup quarter-finals

United were then sunk in the Cup semi-final against Chelsea, with Maguire scoring an own goal

While the FA Cup was the lowest of United’s priorities, it nonetheless marked the end of a 19-game unbeaten run in all competitions either side of lockdown and all momentum vanished.

How that showed against West Ham. It was no coincidence that those players who’ve featured in all 10 games post-restart – Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Pogba and Martial – turned in some of the poorer performances.

Fernandes has been a revelation for United since signing from Sporting Lisbon at the end of the January window with no new signing arguably since Eric Cantona nearly 30 years ago making such an immediate impact at Old Trafford.

But the weight of expectation and the exertion of playing 869 out of a maximum 930 minutes post-restart has left the Portuguese looking jaded.

His first touch was often sloppy and he was unable to prise open West Ham’s defence as he has with so many others lately. In the dying moments, he let out a scream of anguish as a cross sailed over everyone in the box.

Bruno Fernandes has featured prominently in United’s upturn in form but now looks tired

The Portuguese was booked in the closing minutes after reacting to Mark Noble

The frustration manifested itself when he was booked in the last 10 minutes following a confrontation with West Ham captain Mark Noble.

Pogba hasn’t completed as many minutes as Fernandes but his ridiculous handball to concede a penalty late in the first-half was perhaps the mark of tired and muddled thinking as much as a natural face-protecting instinct.

Having returned from a long injury lay-off, Pogba has rediscovered his importance to United in recent weeks but a dip in his effectiveness was always likely to happen.

Rashford was another returning from injury, with the three-month pause an unexpected opportunity to recover from his back problems.

Pogba was penalised for this handball inside his own area on the stroke of half-time

VAR replays clearly showed the 27-year-old midfielder handled the ball inside his own area

His scoring touch had certainly returned with three goals in four league matches prior to Wednesday night but he struggled to make much of an impact against the Hammers and he was taken off for Ighalo five minutes from time.

Former United defender Patrice Evra singled Rashford out: ‘I’ve not seen any harsh words yet about Rashford. He had a really poor game today.’

Captain Maguire has played every single minute since the resumption and mistakes have started to creep in.

His marking was called into question when Southampton scored their stoppage time equaliser last week and scored an own goal in the Cup loss to Chelsea.

Maguire appeared to have man-marked Aaron Wan-Bissaka for Southampton’s late equaliser

The United captain reacts after Southampton scored their stoppage time equaliser last week

Solskjaer insisted after Wednesday’s draw that his players will be fresh and ready to get the job done against Leicester. But the Foxes will have had seven days to prepare.

At a time when United’s players are running on fumes, they must summon the energy to ensure they spend next season rubbing shoulders with Europe’s best in the Champions League rather than slogging through the Europa again.