In Focus: The forgotten United stars Ole could bring in from the cold

It is probably too soon to say Manchester United are back on track.

A routine 3-0 win over a poor Tottenham side last Saturday was a small step in the right direction in the wake of the previous weekend’s 5-0 humiliation by Liverpool.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears more determined than ever to silence his myriad of doubters — and he may have to call upon some of his neglected stars to rescue United's season.

Ahead of the Red Devils’ Champions League trip to Atalanta tonight, we take a look at five players who could be brought in from the cold to help them get back on top.

Diogo Dalot

Solskjaer switched to a back three for the victory against Spurs. 

And while it remains to be seen whether he will stick with that system, Diogo Dalot is arguably better suited to the right wing-back role than the more defensive-minded Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Dalot, 22, spent last season on loan with AC Milan but has made six appearances since returning to Old Trafford in the summer, coming on as a substitute in the Champions League loss to Young Boys after Wan-Bissaka was sent off.

United produced a particularly lacklustre performance that night in Switzerland but Dalot impressed after being pushed further forward to wing-back later in the game — and he went on to play a full 90 minutes in the 2-1 comeback victory against Villarreal.

Could he get another opportunity to stake a claim this evening?

Eric Bailly

Having come back into the side after just one training session following a calf injury, Harry Maguire endured a torrid time as United lost 4-2 to Leicester last month.

Amid the fallout from that game against his former team, reports surfaced that Eric Bailly had confronted Solskjaer about why he picked Maguire if he was not fully fit.

Bailly, 27, has been in the matchday squad for 10 of United’s last 11 games — but the only one he featured in was the Carabao Cup defeat to West Ham.

With Maguire having been hampered by injuries, Solskjaer could consider occasionally leaving him out for the Ivory Coast international in the weeks ahead.

Donny van de Beek

Since his £35.7million arrival at the start of last season, Donny van de Beek has started a grand total of eight games in the Premier League and Champions League for Manchester United.

The Dutchman has become the forgotten man at Old Trafford and United fans have been left scratching their heads about what the 24-year-old has to do for Solskjaer to select him.

His inclusion alone would not fix the problems in midfield but the 19-cap international's Ajax-bred footballing intelligence is a fantastic asset that is simply not being utilised at present.

Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard’s scintillating loan spell at West Ham in the latter part of 2020-21 — during which he scored nine goals in 16 appearances for David Moyes’ side — did not result in a permanent move to East London.

The England midfielder, 28, might have hoped it would lead to him becoming a bigger part of Solskjaer’s plans but that has also not happened. 

It feels unlikely that Lingard’s situation will improve. After all, in a 4-2-3-1 formation, he would have to dislodge Bruno Fernandes to play in his preferred No10 position.

That role does not even exist in the 3-5-2 United deployed against Tottenham either — although he would improve the disorganised pressing for which his side have justifiably been criticised this season.

Jadon Sancho

One of Europe’s brightest young talents, United supporters were rightly delighted with the £73m signing of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

But his start to life at Old Trafford could hardly have gone much worse — the No25 has yet to register a single goal involvement, something he did with impressive regularity for BVB.

The 21-year-old has not started any of United’s last three games and did not even get off the bench against Liverpool or Tottenham. 

And if Solskjaer does continue with wing-backs, it is very hard to see where he fits in.

There is a world-class player in there but Sancho will not be allowed to realise that potential while the Norwegian leaves him kicking his heels. 

LiveScore’s live coverage of Atalanta vs Manchester United kicks off with a pre-match show at 7.25pm. (Available to app users in Ireland only.)