This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Having arrived on Saturday on the back of a mini-revival, Manchester United fell into old habits as they slipped to an insipid 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Snapshot

The Red Devils had endured a miserable start to the current campaign, but appeared to have turned things around with a series of impressive results. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side first halted Liverpool’s flawless start to the Premier League, before winning away from home three times on the bounce against Partizan Belgrade, Norwich and Chelsea respectively.

So when they travelled to take on Bournemouth on Saturday – a side that had failed to score in their previous three games – they may have expected to be walking home with all three points. Instead, in wet and windy conditions, United old boy Josh King proved the difference-maker, as his close-range volley sealed the win for Eddie Howe’s men.

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Whilst the Red Devils didn’t look entirely threatening over the course of the game – they managed just four shots on target – Solskjaer’s truly baffling decision to take off Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka with ten minutes remaining put the nail in the coffin for their hopes of a late comeback.

Off the bench

With the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial not enjoying the best of games – the duo could only muster up two shots on goal between them – Solskjaer decided that he would be better off leaving the two of them on the pitch. Instead, he took off James, the Wales international who appeared to be the only one with a bit of creativity and intent.

The former Swansea man provided two key passes and three accurate crosses, and his raw pace and movement in behind was a constant threat for Bournemouth – the moment he left the pitch, United lacked any real penetration. And, by removing Wan-Bissaka, and simply putting on another full-back in Brandon Williams, was simply insignificant. Solskjaer had a creative play-maker in Juan Mata left rotting on the bench, and it was therefore no surprise to see the Red Devils fail to equalise in the closing stages.

They were only a goal down, and surely they should have been attempting to throw the kitchen sink at them? Instead, the Manchester side ended with a whimper and not a bang, and that is largely in part down to Solskjaer’s perplexing substitutions.