Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Is Responsible for Manchester United's Champions League Elimination

As Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night following a 3-2 defeat to RB Leipzig, the usual cycle of arguments on social media began.

Some fans blamed individual errors for the exit, as Harry Maguire and David De Gea managed to screw up a simple clearance that ultimately led to Justin Kluivert's winner.

Some fans blamed the circus around Paul Pogba's future for disrupting the team's preparation in the build-up to the game.

Some blamed the quality of the squad and turned their attention to the board for not delivering in the summer.

But now, the vast majority have turned the blame to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Norwegian didn't just make several questionable decisions on Tuesday night, but also earlier in the group stage.

Let's take it back to the Red Devils' trip to face Istanbul Basaksehir. Having arguably navigated through their two toughest games of the campaign and coming out on the other side with six points, United needed two wins over the Turkish champions to seal qualification.

Solskjaer's decisions in that game were interesting and, in hindsight, wrong. He opted to take De Gea out of the team and play Dean Henderson in goal, while Nemanja Matic was given a rare start as the sole holding midfielder.

On paper, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with that, and United should still have more than enough about them to beat Basaksehir. But what we saw was a tactical disaster-class, as the Reds were caught having nobody even close to their own half to stop Demba Ba comically running through and scoring the opener.

Despite already being given a warning with that goal, United continued to push their defensive line up to the halfway line and with the full-backs high - leaving Maguire, Matic and Axel Tuanzebe to cope with counter attacks on their own.

That meant when Juan Mata lost the ball on the halfway line, they were once again outnumbered and eventually fell 2-0 behind. Only then did Solskjaer make a tactical switch that saw Wan-Bissaka to ensure he didn't push forward as much. United got a goal back through Anthony Martial, but ultimately never created enough to get back into the game.

United would thump Basaksehir at home but still showed signs of naivety, especially in the second half, as the Turkish side created an abundance of chances. PSG's results against Leipzig meant that United needed a single point from their last two games to qualify for the knockout stage.

After being beaten at home, PSG adapted their tactics at Old Trafford. They set up with a deeper defensive line and looked to counter against United's slow defence.

Solskjaer's team actually played very well and were unlucky not to come away with something in the end. But once again, the manager left himself open for criticism for how he handled the game.

Fred was lucky to still be on the pitch when the half-time whistle went after a head-butt on Leandro Paredes somehow only got him a yellow card, and then a late tackle on the Argentine saw the PSG man booked instead.

Solskjaer had all of Paul Pogba, Donny van De Beek and Matic on the bench, and should have replaced Fred to avoid a sending off. Instead, he sent him back out for the second half on a tight-rope and when he was given a second yellow for a foul on Ander Herrera (even though this time the challenge was fair), there could be no complaints about him leaving the pitch.

PSG had taken the lead moments earlier, but at 2-1 down with 10 men, United were still in a position where winning the group on the final matchday was still in their hands. Solskjaer's decision to then chase the game despite being a man down ultimately led to Neymar's goal in injury time to ensure PSG had a better head-to-head record.

The final group game against RB Leipzig was all about qualification though and a point was all that was needed. United had walloped the German side 5-0 in the reverse fixture, but it's easy to forget that Leipzig outplayed them for the first 30 minutes, with four of the five goals coming in the last 15 minutes.

Solskjaer said all the right things in the build-up, saying the team couldn't play for a draw despite only needing a point. Despite that, he opted to play EIGHT defensive players in the starting lineup and seemed shocked when United found themselves 2-0 down inside 13 minutes.

United couldn't string three passes together and were relying solely on individual quality. No pattern of play, no style, no clear plan or structure.

His substitutions were once again confusing, too. At half-time, he brought off Alex Telles for Van De Beek and switched to back four. Luke Shaw to left-back, who was making his first appearance in a month following a hamstring injury and was on a yellow card, moved to left-back. It was no shock that he didn't last the game and was replaced on the hour mark by Brandon Williams.

All in all, Solskjaer replaced four of his back five during the game and brought on three defenders in their place in a game they were chasing from the second minute.

Solskjaer was let down by the board this summer by failing to acquire Jadon Sancho, but his job as manager is to get the absolute best out of the squad he has regardless. Player quality has nothing to do with some of the decisions he has made during this season and he has proven he is out of his depth at the top level.

He's taken this side as far as it can go under his tutelage and deserves praise for that. But for Manchester United to find their former glory, he needs replacing.