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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Josh Williams

Manchester United have a bad habit that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to fix

Manchester United are progressing under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The club is in a period of transition and it's a period that will benefit the medium-to-long term health of the first-team squad.

However, there are still improvements to be made, with one of the key areas for United to improve being the team's effectiveness in possession.

United often flounder when presented with a stubborn defensive block, with their struggles captured by the metric below.

The most calculating attacking teams, such as Arsenal, Sheffield United, Liverpool and Manchester City tend to avoid shots from outside the penalty area.

United, however, shoot from distance less frequently than only Newcastle, with an attempt every 71 passes.

The number of passes of each Premier League team before shooting from outside the box this season (@DistanceCovered)

Bruno Fernandes, although he's highly likely to improve his team's fortunes overall, is a regular offender despite his chances of scoring being slim, with his debut featuring five efforts at goal, all from outside the box. Fernandes did, though, score United's equaliser at Everton in March from outside the box.

Fred has taken 30 shots from outside the area in the league this season, scoring none. Andreas Pereira has tried his luck from distance 28 times and is also yet to score.

Combining those two players alone, that equates to 58 attacking plays that could have transpired differently if more productive decisions were made higher up the pitch.

Ultimately, United have to be more meticulous while demonstrating greater patience in the final third.

With the Premier League currently on pause, Solskjaer has plenty of time to solve his team's unwelcome willingness to shoot from distance when better options are available..

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