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2nd December 2019
09:07am GMT

"He's a young boy working hard every single day to improve his game and he's played a few games this year. "We found, more or less, his position; he's an attacking midfielder. Of course, when you lack your three more experienced ones with Nemanja (Matic), Paul (Pogba) and Scott, Andreas has to cover that role and he's doing a job for the team."
Villa were the aggressors for long stretches of the game, with Jack Grealish the stand-out player from both sides and both John McGinn and Conor Hourihane looking lively, and attacking with intent.
United have been linked with both Grealish and McGinn in the past, with former United boss Alex Ferguson going as far as to urge the club to snap up the Scottish midfielder.
Ahead of the game, the fanzine United We Stand ran a lengthy interview with the 20-time league champions' executive vice chairman Ed Woodward. He spoke about the club's transfer activities and why new contracts were awarded to the likes of Pereira and Phil Jones (both four years). Woodward stated:
"It's a multi-year squad evolution analysis. It's hard enough to get three players done in a transfer window. To get six or seven done is extremely difficult if you are getting proper talent. "If you choose to churn every player because they are not good enough and you're not extending contracts, you are putting yourself at risk of execution. Sometimes you have to take a broader view."The broader view has led to a United centre midfield of Fred, Pereira and Mata chasing Villa shadows for much of a grim afternoon for home fans. There were just under 74,000 at the game and while there were some boos at the full-time whistle, many in the ground have not turned on Solskjaer yet. Up next, at Old Trafford, are Tottenham on Wednesday before Solskjaer takes his side to Eastlands to take on Manchester City, a side short of form yet still 11 points clear of their neighbours after 14 games. The multi-year squad evolution analysis goes on, but huge doubts remain if Solskjaer will be the man to see it out.
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